Business leaders have welcomed ‘serious proposals at last’ to improve one of the South West’s main arterial roads.

A Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce spokesman said the state of the A30/A303 was ‘very unsatisfactory’ and ‘something of a national scandal’.

Devon County Council (DCC) is consulting on plans to replace a section of the narrow single carriageway at Monkton, near Honiton, with around five miles of new road with three lanes.

The chamber spokesman said: “That has to be good news. However, we have learned in the past that a proper dual carriageway is safer and, in the long run, cheaper, so we will continue to lobby for a full dualling of the route.”

DCC is proposing to upgrade the A30 between the Honiton bypass and the Devonshire Inn, which is at the junction of the A30 with the A303. It will be laid out with two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other to enable overtaking in one direction, alternating along the route. The existing road has sharp bends, steep gradients, poor visibility and limited safe overtaking opportunities.

A two-month public consultation is being launched at the Honiton Show on Thursday, August 4. The aim will be for a preferred option to be included in the Government’s next Roads Investment Strategy, which will cover 2020 to 2025.