A NOTORIOUS junction that has claimed numerous lives is to get nearly £500,000 of safety improvements.

The Deep Lane junction of the A38 at Plympton has seen a series of devastating crashes in recent years.

Nearby residents and grieving families have been calling for action at the accident blackspot, while South West Devon MP Gary Streeter has been demanding improvements for a decade.

Now the Highways Agency has confirmed it will provide a £450,000 facelift.

Although no major layout changes are planned, work will include waterproofing, resurfacing, rebuilding footpaths and improving both crash barriers and parapets.

Despite drivers facing three months of disruption when workmen arrive on Monday, Tory MP Mr Streeter described the upgrade as a step forward.

He tabled a Commons motion in 2007 over the ten-mile stretch of A38 between Ivybridge and Marsh Mills, highlighting Deep Lane as his biggest safety concern after a string of tragic crashes.

Mr Streeter said he wanted to see "much more substantial upgrading" at Deep Lane in the future — especially if plans to build the new town of Sherford and expand industry at Langage progressed.

But he added: "I'm not looking forward to the disruption, but at the end, it will be a safer, more effective junction — and I welcome that.

"I'm looking on this as an incremental advance — by no means the finished product.

"Deep Lane is the busiest junction in my constituency and the campaign to make it safer continues."

Project manager Alexis Wood said work was due to finish by Christmas. "These improvements and repairs are now necessary," she added.

"This work will improve safety for road users as well as providing a quieter and smoother road surface."

Ms Wood urged drivers to take care on the A38 and leave extra time for their journeys during the roadworks.

The bridge will be shut to southbound traffic for the duration of the works, with lane closures, slip road closures, diversions and 50mph restrictions imposed.

B3416 traffic heading south across the bridge or accessing the westbound dual carriageway will be directed along the old A38 past the Lyneham Inn and across Voss Farm Bridge. During overnight closures of the eastbound slip road, traffic will be diverted the same way, with the old Voss Farm junction temporarily re-opened. The Highways Agency said there was "no alternative" but to close the westbound access throughout the project.

JUNCTION: Concerns

CALLS for action at the infamous Deep Lane junction date back well over a decade.

The

death of cyclist Robert Cunningham, who was hit by a car in December

1995, led to a new cycle route between Ivybridge and Plympton.

But

that failed to solve problems on the A38 or its slip roads, and Royal

Navy officer Mark Hayman was killed after losing control of his

motorbike in September 2001.

The next month, MP Gary Streeter began pleading with Devon County Council to improve safety.

Sadly,

mother-of-two Sally Osborne was the junction's next victim, crashing

during her motorcycle driving test in September 2002.

The next

May, Plympton biker Adrian Hoblyn lost his life nearby, while that

August, holidaymaker Barry Harding is thought to have been distracted by

a dog before crashing his car into a parked lorry.

Then-transport

minister and Plymouth Devonport Labour MP David Jamieson suggested

completely redesigning the junction in 2004, after shocking collision

figures were revealed in The Herald.

Local councillors had by then joined forces with Mr Streeter as he took his fight to Parliament, yielding speed cameras.

But

it did not prevent Plympton schoolgirl Megan Humphrey dying aged 17 in

September 2006 when a car she was in smashed into a tree near the

junction.

There was a triple tragedy the next June when

drink-driver Sarah Cassell smashed head-on into Allan and Susan

Cowling's car as she drove the wrong way down the A38 near the turn-off,

killing all three.

Mr Streeter tabled a Commons motion that year, meeting with Highways Agency chiefs to seek a solution.

But

already this year, a man suffered life-changing injuries after being

struck by a car while refuelling, and six Polish people were rushed to

hospital after a head-on collision.

Tentative plans to add an

extra lane to the eastbound carriageway were announced in June, though

campaigners expressed doubts over how the £23million scheme would be

funded.