THE Kingskerswell Alliance launched a new campaign this week calling on Devon County Council to take immediate action on the A380 Newton Abbot-Torquay road, which splits the village.

The alliance says urgency is required because of the county's lack of effective traffic management and the group is spreading its wings for support by getting a PO Box and a website.

While the group wants action on the bumper to bumper A380 it does not believe that the proposed £50 million bypass is the answer.

Instead it puts forward a solution of much smaller, economical, sustainable and environmentally friendly improvements.

Among seven major points it is asking the county council for immediate action on are:

1 A flyover or underpass to carry through traffic at the Penn Inn roundabout.

2 A bridge or underpass at Jury's Corner along with slip roads.

3 Replacement of Kingskerswell Gardens roundabout with a modern junction to give traffic unimpeded access to the ring road and Riviera Way.

4 St Marychurch Road to be selectively widened and linked with the road network serving Barton New Town and The Willows.

5 Recognise that road building treats the effect not the cause, and that traffic will always expand to fill the road space available. Incentives like flexitime to encourage staggered working hours are popular with workers and avoid rush hour congestion.

Richard Hamlyn, group chairman, said members believed that after making improvements to the existing roads, traffic would be able to flow in an uninterrupted manner at a minimum average speed of 20mph.

'The journey time would be less than 10 minutes. Is this too high a price to pay for protecting the environment,' he asked.

Mr Hamlyn also believes that if the £50 million earmarked for the project was invested efficiently in improvements to public transport locally the cumulative effect of both strategies would be enormous.

'Devon County Council has delivered nothing to the motorist on this matter other than endless surveys and feasibility studies costing hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money. That could have been better spent on the improvements.

'Since we were formed a year ago we have concentrated on residents in Kingskerswell. Now we will be taking in the surrounding areas and for people who want something done now about the traffic on the A380 their best option is to join the Kingskerswell Alliance,' he said.

Paul Bright, the Alliance vice-chairman, also urged the public to write to their MPs.

Further details can be obtained by writing to the Kingskerswell Alliance, PO Box 291, Newton Abbot, or by logging on to the website – http://www.kingskerswellalliance.org.uk">www.kingskerswellalliance.org.uk