wemburywaves

On this day in Wembury — 8 March 1997

The Western Evening Herald reported that drivers were openly ignoring new traffic restrictions on Wembury Road near Elburton, where Plymouth’s suburbs give way to the country lanes leading to the village. A left-turn ban from Reservoir Road into Wembury Road had been introduced to stop motorists using the route as a shortcut, but the measure was being treated with contempt. Observers counted more than one hundred and twenty vehicles an hour flouting the rule, many of them commuters heading for the coast. Residents described the daily scene of cars swinging round the lights and cutting through the junction as both dangerous and frustrating.

Nearly thirty years later the roads are still busy but the layout has changed. The junction at Elburton and Reservoir Road now has clearer signs, tighter markings and better light sequencing. The specific turn ban no longer applies, though limits and calming measures have replaced it. The 30 mile an hour zone runs well beyond the roundabout and enforcement is far stricter. Yet the same old pressure remains. Wembury Road carries more traffic than it was ever built for, particularly at the morning and afternoon peaks. The noise, the queues and the creeping pace remind long-time residents that every generation seems to wrestle with the same problem on that narrow road to the sea.
(Western Evening Herald, 8 March 1997; modern comparison 2025)