MORE than 80 per cent of respondents to the public consultation into one of Devon's most grid-locked main roads have given in principle support for a Kingskerswell bypass, meetings of Devon County Council Executive and Torbay Council heard this week.

At the executive, on Tuesday, members welcomed the high level of support and recommended that the on-going investigation work, including the preparation of the necessary statutory assessments, should be jointly undertaken by the two authorities.

Executive vice-chairman, Cllr Brian Greenslade was optimistic.

'I do think we are now moving towards the time when we will actually see it happen,' he said.

In the consultation 62,040 explanatory leaflets and questionnaires were made available to the public, of which 4,112 (6.7 per cent) of questionnaires were returned along with 32 individual letters.

Return rates from the immediate vicinity of the proposals totalled around 30 per cent from Kingskerswell and just above 10 per cent from the Buckland/Milber/Aller Park area of Newton Abbot.

Highways engineers also had to sift through 5,516 comments/suggestions sent in on the questionnaires, as well as letters, or ideas put forward at the exhibitions.

In the Kingskerswell and Milber/Aller Park area, some 68 per cent supported the principle of a bypass with 28 per cent opposed.

Included among suggestions supporting alternatives were: better use of public transport with improvements to bus and rail services, initiatives to discourage car use, congestion could not be improved with the bypass and instead improvements should be made to the existing road network including improvements at Jury's Corner and a flyover at Penn Inn.

These alternatives were considered and rejected by the A380 Penn Inn-Kerswell Gardens Corridor Study.

Some who backed the bypass expressed concern regarding the proposed layout of the junctions at Aller and Kerswell Gardens, and the proposed closure of Addison Road and Aller Brake Road onto the A380.

The consultation results will run parallel with the next stages of design and environmental assessment, needed to support the planning application and compulsory purchase/side road orders.

Councillors heard that it was anticipated that the work could be completed in time for a planning application to be submitted early next year.

In Kingskerswell 208 people said they thought the bypass was not necessary, and while it was the same number as those whose properties would be affected, the latter did not all comment that way.

The executive also recommended: 1) that the short-term proposals for the improvement of the Shaldon Road junction and the installation of the signal controlled layout at Langford Bridge be progressed to construction and the necessary land be acquired.

2) the provision of the Aller Brook Cycle path be progressed and an application be submitted, subject to route modifications.

3) further investigation be undertaken on proposals for the access to and from the Aller Park estate and the layout of the major junctions at Aller and Kerswell Gardens/Hamelin Way, with the results reported for approval prior to submitting a formal planning application.