PROPOSED new 30mph speed limits on sections of the A379 Dawlish to Teignmouth road have been labelled as a 'sledgehammer to crack a nut'. That is how Cllr Margaret Dickson described the moves at a town council meeting last week. Traffic orders from Devon County Council seek to introduce a 30mph speed limit on the A379 Teignmouth road from 15 metres south of Coronation Avenue, Dawlish, southwards for 162 metres and at another section 300 metres northeast of Woodland Avenue to 50 metres north of Fordens Lane, Holcombe. This means, however, that a 300-metre section of the road between Fordens Lane and Coronation Avenue is left at 40mph, passing the Smugglers' Inn, which is considered a dangerous area. Councillors were confused as under the new orders the entire road, with the exception of the 'exceedingly short' 40mph section, from Teignmouth to Dawlish would be 30mph. At Dawlish Town Council's Finance and General Purposes committee last week Cllr Wally Protheroe put it down to the government, saying it allocated money to slow down traffic, therefore the counties were following the orders. Cllr Margaret Dickson said: 'It's leaving a very short stretch of the road between Dawlish and Teignmouth at 40mph and is very odd. I'm not happy about it.' She was also concerned about receiving the traffic order documents with little time to form a corporate response. Councillors also thought the new bus laybys near Coronation Avenue did not help with the traffic flow – buses now have to stop in the road, holding up vehicles behind them. It was decided that councillors should individually write to Devon County Council expressing their concerns. Paradoxically, lowering the speed limit has already led to an accident. Where there used to be double white lines in the middle of the road, meaning no overtaking, now there is not. An elderly man was injured in an accident a couple of weeks ago. Devon County Council said the speed limit was being dropped from 40mph to 30mph 'to improve the safety of road users, particularly when crossing the A379 in Holcombe and at Coronation Avenue, Dawlish'.
