Multi-million pound funding boost to Devon’s road’s

Thursday, 15 October 2026 at 08:00

By Chris Collman

Devon County Council’s Cabinet has rubberstamped an extra £4.5 million to be spent repairing local roads, improving key diversion routes and tackling drainage problems across Devon.

Devon County Council’s Cabinet has approved the funding as part of its highway maintenance programme for 2026/27.

The funding boost follows an extra £3 million for reactive highway maintenance and an extra £4 million for rapid-response road repairs announced earlier in the year.

The new funding package will fund the resurfacing of three key roads that provide important diversion routes when major roads are closed.

The routes are Whiddon Down to Crockernwell, which provides an east-west alternative; Stockland Hill, linking the A35 and A30; and the B3181 at Budlake, used when traffic is diverted from the M5.

It will also pay for an expansion of the Rapid Response Teams and four additional dedicated drainage teams, providing extra reactive capacity to tackle local drainage problems alongside the council’s existing drainage resources.

The Rapid Response Teams have been working since June on small and medium-sized stretches of damaged road which cause problems for local communities but do not meet the criteria for an immediate safety repair.

The extra funding will allow more of this work to be carried out.

The four additional drainage teams will clear blocked gullies, roadside channels and pipes, with local councillors and highways officers helping to identify where this extra reactive support is most needed.

Together, the work is intended to make local roads more resilient during prolonged bad weather.

Heavy rain and freezing conditions can damage road surfaces and cause flooding or closures, increasing pressure on the diversion routes used to keep Devon moving.