When contractors, Kiers confirmed that the end of the £33million highways contract is in sight for the notorious bottleneck of the A30 between Temple and Higher Carblake in Cornwall that has blighted the journeys of local residents and holiday makers alike, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Cornwall Council part-funded the project in conjunction with the Highways Agency with Kiers dualling the last section of single carriageway on the A30 between the M5 at Exeter and the Carland Cross junction with the A39, north of Truro. The site programme began in June 2015 and Kiers finished the works this summer.

Kier Construction has installed precast concrete chamber rings and flexible jointed pipes on the project from the Marshalls Civils and Drainage, which were delivered from their Somerset works.

Precast concrete drainage products were chosen due to the reliability and flexibility of the system that allowed Kiers to work alongside the traffic regulations placed upon them.

Sean Jeffrey, Kier Infrastructure executive director, commented: “The award of this capital investment project, working with Cornwall Council and the Highways Agency, is an excellent demonstration of Kier’s increasing presence in the capex highways market. “It’s a strategically important scheme for the region, providing much-needed highways improvements and increased capacity, so we are delighted to have been chosen to deliver the project. And it comes shortly after our new appointment on the Highways Agency Collaborative Development Framework, so we look forward to delivering many more schemes like this in the future.”

Council leader John Pollard said: “Local residents, businesses and holidaymakers have long highlighted the impact of traffic congestion and poor journey times along the 5 km section of the A30 between Temple and Higher Carblake,” he said, “This decision by the Government is another major step in delivering this much-needed scheme and I would like to thank everyone who has worked with the Council to achieve this. “The dualling of this 5km stretch of road will play a vital role in reducing delays on the A30, which currently cost over £10m a year in lost time alone. It will also play an important role in the future prosperity of Cornwall by encouraging economic growth, aiding regeneration and business expansion and supporting tourism.”