The friends have been in discussion now for many years with Devon County Council Highways Team since we first learnt that the bridges over the canal on the A379 needed to be replaced because they have reached the end of their lives. Failure to replace the bridges will cause havoc in the city because they provide a critical piece of infrastructure to support local traffic movements, but also to provide an alternative route to the M5 when there is an incident that closes the motorway. But the replacement of the bridges offers an opportunity to increase the air draught under the bridges to allow more boats to pass under, and an opportunity to allow the pedestrian and cycle route to pass under the the highway, and remove the need for traffic lights which slows traffic movements.
We hope that an increased air draught will enable this, and if a draught of 3.0m can be achieved, then there will be an opportunity for commercial water based traffic to navigate the canal from Turf lock to Exeter canal basin.
Update July 2026
July 2026. We were hugely dissapointed that the County Council has not consulted upon what we thought was an agreed proposal to raise the level of the bridges and highway to allow more boats to pass under the bridges rather than opening the bridegs and stopping the traffic. The consulted scheme for two bascule bridges will provide not real benefits for canal users.
Update September 2026
We are pleased that our main MP, Steve Race, has intervened in the proposed bridge replacements, calling for a review of the basic bridge replacement scheme proposed by DCC. And we are also pleased with Exeter Civic Society’s response calling for a rethink, although much of their criticism relates to traffic congestion during the proposed two year construction period.
MP Steve Race met with with DCC engineers on 18 September 2026 to discuss the possibilities and challenges to replace the bridges. On the right is a link to his facebook post, but if you cannot hear him, below is a transcript.
“Hi there, Steve Race here, Labour MP for Exeter. I’ve just finished a really productive meeting with some officers at Devon County Council to talk about the project to replace two bridges on Bridge Road. This project is really important for the resilience of our economy and for the road network for drivers but also for active travel in the future too. And it’s important that we get it right. The officers set out to me some of the restrictions that they are working under, from the listed bridge, to the sites of special scientific interest, to the culverts for the river, and how they’re trying their best to get the best possible outcome they can. This project is really important. I want it to be the best it can be for Exeter, and for people in Exeter. So I’ll continue to work with the campaign groups, and with the officers here to make sure we push it as far as we possibly can. But I want to thank the officers for their time”
