A RING road to the north of Exeter is needed to take traffic away from Church Hill in Pinhoe, according to local councillor Moira Macdonald.
Cllr Macdonald made the plea at the latest meeting of Exeter's highways committee as she is becoming increasingly concerned about the numbers of cars using the narrow road as a rat run.
Cllr Macdonald said: "At present drivers approaching Exeter from the east or north-east, whose destination lies beyond Exeter must all circuit to the south of Exeter if they wish to avoid driving through the city. This includes drivers from Ottery St Mary or Cullompton who wish to travel north-west for the A377 out towards Crediton or Stoke Canon.
"Lacking a north of Exeter ring road drivers are increasingly using a much shorter route which was never intended to carry large amounts of traffic and the part of this route most affected is Church Hill."
Cllr Macdonald said that residents living in Church Hill now speak of excessive speeds by a far larger number of vehicles as it has become a commuter/school run route.
Cllr Macdonald said that proper research was needed to determine the scale of the adverse impact this was having on Church Hill.
Cllr Macdonald told the committee she had accompanied the police when they did a speed check on Church Hill which has a 20mph limit and that not a single car was going at 20mph; the fastest was timed at 47mph.
Committee member, Cllr Emma Morse, and Pinhoe's county councillor, said that she supported a northern link road as Church Hill was not suitable for commuter traffic as it was used by children walking to school.
The county council's speed complaint action review forum is to look into safety measures on the road and report back to the next meeting of the highways committee in July.
