22 July 2021

Thanks to the significant progress made by VolkerLaser during the past few weeks and the continued period of fine weather, the first phase of the Tamar Bridge resurfacing scheme will be completed today (Thursday, 22 July) – one week ahead of the original scheduled date of 29 July.

Rather than immediately moving the works onto the main bridge deck for the next phase of the project, we will be operating four vehicle lanes as normal to ease congestion over the first weekend of the school holidays. This means we will be opening the dedicated Saltash cantilever lane from Thursday until late Sunday evening when we start the second phase of the project.

We will also be reopening our local traffic TAG only lane (lane 7) at the toll plaza.

Unfortunately, preparations for phase two means we are unable to reopen the pedestrian footpath and cycleway at the same time, however our 24hrs Tamar shuttle services will continue to operate.

As work on the second phase of the scheme was not due to begin until the end of next week, this weekend’s normal operation will not impact on the upcoming programme.

“This is great news for bridge users and those living and working in adjoining local communities” said Councillors Martin Worth and Jonathan Drean, the Joint Chairs of the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee.

“The first weekend of the school holidays is always very busy as families travel to the South West and this year we are likely to see even higher levels of traffic as a result of the overseas travel restrictions caused by COVID”.

“Being able to have four lanes open for traffic over the weekend will enable the control room staff to respond to any incidents or
accidents on the bridge more quickly, reducing traffic build up and potential delays”.

“VolkerLaser is delighted to be able to open the bridge up for normal operation, over what is traditionally an extremely busy weekend for the public travelling into the region“ added Nathan Wakfer, Senior Project Manager for VolkerLaser.

“We have worked very closely with the control room staff over the past two months, and are equally pleased to be able to do this to assist them in their difficult job of keeping the travelling public moving.”

Traffic management arrangements for phase two are planned to be introduced overnight on Sunday, 25 July so that they are in place for the contractor to start work on the Monday morning.

The next phase will see the eastbound lane and centre lane on the main deck closed to traffic, with the remaining lane used to help manage and balance traffic flows. This lane will become the tidal flow lane.

The direction of flow will be changed by control room staff in response to a build-up of traffic or incidents, such as accidents or breakdowns on the bridge or other issues on the adjoining road network.

The north cantilever will be used for eastbound traffic from Cornwall and for local Saltash traffic, with lane 7 on the toll plaza acting as a tag only lane as normal. The south cantilever will be opened for westbound traffic travelling from Plymouth into Cornwall.

VolkerLaser will be carrying out preparatory work during the day on Monday, with planing works beginning on the main deck on the Tuesday.

We recognise that this new phase and the associated traffic management arrangements will be unfamiliar to many users and ask that drivers pay particular attention to the new lane layouts, traffic signs and prevailing traffic conditions