Editing A30 road (section)

===20th century===
[[File:China Southern Airlines Airbus A380 arriving at Heathrow over Myrtle Avenue, 8 July 2020.jpg|thumb|right|The Great South West Road section of the A30 borders [[Heathrow Airport]].]]
The A30 was one of the first roads to be classified by the [[Ministry of Transport (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Transport]] for funding in 1921. It followed Ogilby's route up to Exeter, then the basic route of the modern A30 through Okehampton, Launceston and Bodmin to the Greenmarket in Penzance, where it ended.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/index.php?view=50.11852,-5.55112&map=NPEMap&zoom=7&layer=4|title=Half Inch Ministry of Transport Road Map|publisher=Ordnance Survey|access-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> It was extended to Land's End in 1925.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3543653|title=CLASSIFICATION: Road numbering|publisher=The National Archives|year=1921–1949|url-access=registration }}</ref>

The Great South West Road section of the A30 around Heathrow had been planned as the western end of the Great West Road project, one of the first bypasses built for motor traffic. Construction began in 1914 but was quickly halted because of [[World War I]]. It resumed construction in 1919.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS120261720&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=The Great West Road|newspaper=The Times|date=24 February 1919|page=7|access-date=16 August 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The full route from [[Chiswick]] to [[Ashford, Surrey|Ashford]] was opened by [[George V|King George V]] on 30 May 1925.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS285677740&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=London to the West|newspaper=The Times|date=12 May 1925|page=17|access-date=16 August 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Following the construction of a bypass around Basingstoke, the route of the A30 was changed on 1 April 1933 to run by [[Sutton Scotney]] and [[Stockbridge, Hampshire|Stockbridge]], rejoining the original route at Lopcombe Corner east of Salisbury. An alternative route, the [[A303 road|A303]] was created out of existing roads at the same time between [[Micheldever Station]] and the [[Blackdown Hills National Landscape|Blackdown Hills]], that followed the basic course of Hanning's New Direct Road.<ref name=tna/> The A30 remained the principal route between London and Exeter, until the A303 became a [[trunk road]] in 1958, receiving central Government funding and relegating the parallel A30 to a local road.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1958/nov/05/a30-and-a303|title=A.30 and A.303|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=5 November 1958|access-date=16 August 2016}}</ref>

By the mid-20th century, large sections of the A30 were struggling to cope with the increasing demands of road traffic. In the mid-1960s, numerous councils complained that the [[Secretary of State for Transport]], [[Barbara Castle]], decided that improvements to the [[A38 road|A38]] from Exeter to Plymouth were of higher priority for funding than any work on the A30. Cornwall County Council complained that the A30 through the county was narrow and twisted, and known as the "stage coach trail".<ref>{{cite news|title=Road to the West : Ministry's Choice Dismays Cornwall|work=The Times|date=20 June 1966|access-date=11 August 2016|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS169044692&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Following World War II, the Ministry of Transport planned a large-scale upgrade of the A30 across south-west England, with the eventual intention that most of the route would be at least dual-carriageway.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1958/nov/12/a30-and-a303#S5CV0595P0_19581112_CWA_7|title=A.30 and A.303|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=12 November 1958|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref> The [[M3 motorway (Great Britain)|M3 motorway]] was planned as a replacement for the A30 between London and [[Popham, Hampshire|Popham]]. Following a public enquiry in 1966, the line was fixed the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukmotorwayarchive.org/en/motorways/motorway-listing/m3-london-to-southampton/index.cfm|title=M3 London to Southampton|publisher=The Motorway Archive|access-date=16 August 2016}}</ref> The work was completed as far as [[Bagshot]] in 1971, then to [[Sunbury-on-Thames]] in 1974.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukmotorwayarchive.org/en/motorways/motorway-listing/m3-london-to-southampton/index.cfm|title=M3. London to Southampton Statistics and options|publisher=The Motorway Archive|date=16 August 2016}}</ref> In 1971, the [[Secretary of State for the Environment]], [[Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester|Peter Walker]] announced many upgrades of the A30 across Devon and Cornwall, identifying the section from Okehampton to Bodmin as a key area of improvement.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS67335384&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=1,000 more miles of motorway will bring growth to less prosperous areas|work=The Times|date=24 June 1971|access-date=11 August 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The {{convert|2.2|miles|adj=on}} Honiton dual-carriageway bypass opened in early December 1966 at a cost of £984,000.<ref name=Autocar196612>{{cite journal| title = Honiton Bypass| journal = [[Autocar (magazine)|Autocar]] | volume = 125 | issue = 3696 |page=1287 |date = 16 December 1966}}</ref> The [[Hayle]] bypass was first proposed in the late 1970s. It was controversial, and [[Dora Russell]] protested against its construction.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS302481564&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=Over 80, she still battles on|work=The Times|date=28 April 1977|access-date=11 August 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It was completed in 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1985/may/02/road-works-compensation|title=Road Works (Compensation)|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=2 May 1985|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref>

[[File:CarlandCrossRoundaboutA30Cornwall.jpg|thumb|Carland Cross roundabout]]

{{anchor|Okehampton Bypass (Confirmation of Orders) Act 1985}}
The Okehampton bypass, which opened on 19 July 1988, goes to the south of the town, cutting through the northern edge of [[Dartmoor National Park]] in Devon. In the 1980s, the route of the bypass was the subject of a prolonged campaign from conservationists, including [[Sylvia Sayer]], who preferred a route to the north of the town through agricultural land.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Kelly|first=Matthew
|title=Quartz and Feldspar – Dartmoor: A British Landscape in Modern Times
|publisher=Jonathan Cape|location=London|year=2015
|isbn=978-0-22409-113-8|pages=10–16}}</ref>

The section between Honiton and Exeter in East Devon was upgraded in 1999 to dual carriageway, giving quicker access to [[Exeter International Airport]]. This road was built under the Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) [[Private Finance Initiative]] scheme by the private consortium Connect A30, who receive a [[shadow toll]] from the Government for each vehicle travelling along the road.<ref name="Ref_">{{cite web|url=http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/3505.aspx |title=Highways Agency - A30 Exeter to Bere Regis |access-date=8 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408211459/http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/3505.aspx |archive-date=8 April 2012 }}</ref> Archaeological investigations during the work found a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[cavalry]] garrison and later settlement at [[Pomeroy Wood]].<ref name="Ref_1999">{{cite web|title=A30 Honiton to Exeter – Horse Power – Roman Style |work=Roads to the Past: Trunk Roads and Archaeology – 1999 report |publisher=[[Highways Agency]] |year=1999 |url=http://www.highways.gov.uk/aboutus/1654.aspx |access-date=17 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605013655/http://highways.gov.uk/aboutus/1654.aspx |archive-date=5 June 2009  }}</ref> There were several protests by [[environmentalism|environmentalists]] during construction and the particular nature of the DBFO scheme, with a long-lasting occupation of sites on the planned route, focused around [[Fairmile, Devon|Fairmile]]. [[Swampy (environmentalist)|Swampy]] received press attention for his part in this protest. In 2016, President of [[The Automobile Association]], [[Edmund King (campaigner)|Edmund King]], claimed that the action had led to a slowdown in road construction throughout Britain.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hunt|first=Barry|date=14 June 2016|url=https://www.thecomet.net/news/22186175.revealed-road-building-records-prime-ministers-including-david-cameron/|title=Revealed: Road-building records of Prime Ministers, including David Cameron|work=The Comet|access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Colleen|date=1 February 2020|orig-date=30 January 2020|title=Remembering when Swampy emerged from his long tunnel protest under Devon's A30|work=Devon Live|url=https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/remembering-swampy-emerged-long-tunnel-3738845|access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref>