The A30 over Bodmin Moor has been a source of frustration for motorists for many years.

Continual upgrades left the Temple area as the only section of single carriageway between London and Cornwall.

Work started on a £60 million project to upgrade the route and create a dual carriageway in June 2015 - just before the school holidays.

Last summer saw millions of people travelling in and out of Cornwall left queuing for hours through single lanes in a 40mph speed limit zone.

What is happening this summer?

Contractors promised there would be two lanes in place on the three-mile stretch of roadworks by this summer.

In July this year - the last day of the school term - they created a temporary dual carriageway for motorists travelling eastbound, but not for those coming into Cornwall.

Cornwall Council and construction company Kier said studies showed this would help ease the worst congestion, as holiday-makers had to meet their check-out deadlines. Westbound motorists, said officials, have more choice over when to travel.

But there have been huge delays this summer again - with motorists struggling in both directions, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays.

More misery?

On Sunday September 4, this section of road will revert to single carriageway in both directions.

The contractors say there is the possibility of overnight road closures bring re-introduced in September as well.

The better news for locals is that by the end of September, the road works at Four Winds – providing access to and from Blisland – should be complete and that junction should re-open.

Why is there a 40mph limit?

One aspect of the road works which many motorists have found particularly frustrating is the 40mph average speed limit.

The limit was introduced for the safety of construction workers - but it is aggressively enforced regardless of whether or not any workers are on site.

A statement on the Kier website says: "Most certainly the 40mph speed limit will continue to be enforced with the use of average speed monitoring cameras.

"Please remember enforcement of the speed limit is not just from the beginning to the end of the road works, it can be between two sets of cameras."

The advice from the Peninsular Road Safety Partnership who run the traffic scheme is that, to avoid getting caught the most important fact to remember is that the moment you pass the first large 40mph signs the speed limit becomes enforceable and remains so throughout the entire length of the road works.

"The speed limit is enforced irrespective of the number of lanes, road classification, traffic flow, visible workforce, day of the week, time of day or weather conditions."

Cornwall Council says that observing the 40mph limit should add "only a few minutes" to overall journey times.

There are no plans to relax the 40mph average speed limit which covers the entire length of the road works – whether or not construction workers are on-site.

Speed cameras have so far caught hundreds of motorists, with one clocked at 91mph.

What about the local roads?

For locals, the difficulties with making right-turns across the road have sometimes involved long diversions.

Drivers often have to travel east as far as Jamaica Inn before using an underpass to rejoin the westbound carriageway.

They then risk getting stuck in slow or stationary traffic as they struggle to reach Bodmin.

The Four Winds junction for Blisland is currently closed completely but contractors say it should reopen at the end of next month

And the bridges?

Although some bridge sections have been put in place, none is yet complete.

Kier says that with good weather, the Preeze Cross Bridge should be open to traffic by the end of the year.

The Cardinham and Temple Tor Bridges should be completed by early 2017.

Advice for motorists

Cornwall Council offers this advice to motorists.

WESTBOUND: "Avoid peak times if possible – for westbound traffic this is typically between 3pm and 7pm on a Friday and between 10am and 6pm on a Saturday.

"You can view the live traffic feed from cameras on the A30 at Bodmin Moor and on the A38 and the Glyn Valley on the Traffic England website.

"To view, move the map to Cornwall and click on the tab 'Map Layers' – this will bring up the sites of the cameras, click on the camera to view the images."

EASTBOUND: "Two lanes will be in operation between 22 July and 4 September, which should help alleviate queuing in this direction, though as above it is still wise to avoid peak travel times (which are from around 10am to 4pm on Fridays and around 10am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays) and also check local traffic reports, either on Twitter @HighwaysSWEST @DC_Police @BBCTravelSW or on the BBC Cornwall website."

There are a also a number of travel apps you can use which will also provide live traffic information.

"When traffic is queuing westbound we will notify drivers on the electronic message signs on the M5 from Junctions 27 and 31 westwards, as well as on the A30 at Dunheved Bridge (prior to Launceston), Kennards House (prior to the A395 Jct for North Cornwall and Plusha Services).

"Additional information will also be available at the motorway service areas heading west from Bristol."

Are there alternative routes?

When traffic is bad, there are several alternatives - but none are particularly quick.

  • The A38 will take you to South East Cornwall and allow you to rejoin the A30 at Bodmin which is past the works.
  • The A395 from Kennards House will take you to North Cornwall and join A39, which leads to Camelford, Wadebridge and towns and villages along the way to Newquay.

What have they done so far?

At the time of the eastbound dual carriageway opening, Jamie Bee, Project Manager for Kier, said: "Despite the challenges thrown at us from Bodmin Moor, the Kier team and our supply chain have worked extremely hard, seven days a week, including a five week programme of permanent night-shifts to increase the capacity of the A30 for the summer holiday period.

"This intensive programme period has seen us complete the bridge decks over the road and approximately 3.5km of new carriageway. It has been a huge effort from all those involved and I am very pleased that we have managed to achieve this significant milestone."