Devon County Council’s Cabinet has agreed not to continue with plans to develop the “Exmouth Gateway” scheme as part of a series of improvements to ease traffic congestion in the town. The proposals to enhance the area near the railway station had been included in the Destination Exmouth Levelling Up Fund improvements for the town, which also includes an extension to Dinan Way.
Devon County Council’s Cabinet has agreed not to continue with plans to develop the “Exmouth Gateway” scheme as part of a series of improvements to ease traffic congestion in the town.
The proposals to enhance the area near the railway station had been included in the Destination Exmouth Levelling Up Fund improvements for the town, which also includes an extension to Dinan Way.
At today’s meeting (Wednesday 8 May), councillors supported recommendations to remove the gateway proposals from the wider Destination Exmouth scheme.
During two public consultations on the proposals, the majority of people who responded opposed the closure of the subway.
Scheme designers had investigated options of keeping the subway open while delivering some elements of the Exmouth Gateway, but they were not considered feasible as without the space unlocked by closing the subway they would not deliver the active travel benefits to meet the Levelling Up Funding requirements.
The report to Cabinet stated that, “it is not possible to deliver the active travel gateway improvements without the additional space provided by the infilling of the subway and its closure”.
Devon County Council successfully submitted a bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund for £15.765 million for its Destination Exmouth improvements. Devon County Council, East Devon District Council and Exmouth Town Council had agreed to contribute £1.752 million to the scheme.
Devon County Council is working closely with the Department for Transport (DfT) to understand the financial implications of not progressing the gateway scheme.

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