The South Devon Highway is in the running to be the nation’s favourite piece of new infrastructure and the project team is asking for your vote to help it win first place.

The highway has already won several national awards, and in the summer was awarded the south west’s top regional civil engineering prize. It is now one of 12 regional projects canvassing for votes in the prestigious People’s Award category. Project director and chief engineer for Devon County Council, Rob Richards, said: ‘The South Devon Highway is an exceptional project that took nearly 60 years to come to fruition, with many people involved making the case to get it built.

‘It’s vital for businesses across south Devon that they can depend on fast, reliable connections that enable them to transport their goods to market, help their employees get to work and not have to factor in traffic jams and delays.

‘It’s also a far safer route and by moving traffic away from Kingskerswell, cyclists and pedestrians – as well as the local community – have a much more pleasant environment.

‘Throughout the project we have gone to great lengths to communicate with the local community, running a community liaison group, providing exhibitions, tours and newsletters to update people about the progress. It has all helped to make sure the project ran smoothly.’

Since opening almost one year ago the new road has improved traffic patterns in the region. Commuting times have shortened dramatically and economic benefits are now starting to be felt across south Devon.

Journey times between Newton Abbot and Torbay have been cut to a fraction of the former long commute, congestion has reduced and 38,000 cars a day can now travel back and forth with ease.

Mr Richards explained: ‘As a result, it has transformed the area and we’d really appreciate help to make it number one in the national people’s vote.’

Voting is a simple process and only takes a few moments. Polling closes on Wednesday and you can vote for the project by selecting it from the list of regional nominations on the Institution of Civil Engineers website here http://tinyurl.com/huxcauo