Council reveals plans to cut speed limit on ‘total nightmare’ A386 Roborough Down
Devon County Council has outlined plans to cut the speed limit to 40mph across Roborough Down following a string of serious collisions, as local motorists warn of ongoing danger near moorland junctions
Plans for a major speed reduction on the A386 between Yelverton and Roborough are being drawn up following several serious collisions on the moorland route.
Devon County Council has confirmed to The Moorlander it is currently designing a scheme to reduce the speed limit to 40 miles per hour on sections of the busy route across Roborough Down, which is a key commuter route for those travelling between Tavistock and Plymouth.
The road currently has a 60 miles per hour limit, understood to have been raised from 40 miles per hour in 2018, just eight years ago, making the proposed change a significant reversal.
It comes as the route was the scene of a collision on Friday, June 5, which left a motorcyclist injured near the Buckland Abbey turning and forced the emergency closure of the road.
The council plans to formalise the speed reduction later this year, giving residents the opportunity to vote on the proposals.
A spokesperson for Devon County Council told The Moorlander: “We are developing proposals for a reduced 40mph speed limit on sections of the route and are currently designing the scheme.
“A Traffic Regulation Order is expected to be published in the autumn. This will give people the opportunity to share their views through a formal consultation process.
“As with any consultation, feedback from the public will help inform whether the scheme goes ahead.”
The road safety partnership Vision Zero South West, which is working toward a target of halving deaths and serious injuries on the region's roads by 2030, stated that it continues to support efforts to prevent highway trauma.
A spokesperson for Vision Zero South West said: “Our partnership has committed to halving the number of people killed or seriously injured on Devon and Cornwall’s roads by 2030, and eventually, to zero.
“We are making positive progress, but every life lost on our roads is one too many.”
According to official Stats19 collision data published by Vision Zero South West, the section of the A386 crossing Roborough Down has been the site of multiple high-severity incidents.
The data confirms two separate fatalities occurred on this exact stretch last year (2025):
- February: A fatal collision involving two vehicles and a motorcycle occurred at the A386 junction with an unclassified road near Roborough.
- October: A second fatal collision involving two vehicles and a motorcycle was recorded near an unclassified road junction further north toward Yelverton.
Devon County Council’s intervention follows mounting frustration from regular users of the route, who have taken to social media following the recent wave of collisions to warn that the road has become an accident hotspot.
Responding to a social media post by The Moorlander about the road, local motorists said pulling out onto the main road from surrounding villages and local businesses had become a “total nightmare” due to high speeds.
Specific safety concerns have been raised regarding the junctions near the Bere Alston turn-off and the busy new Strawberry Fields farm cafe site, where drivers claim impatient motorists regularly pull out into oncoming traffic.
One regular commuter noted that motorists frequently face delays on the moorland route, which "often leads to stupid actions like overtaking and speeding."
They argued that a speed reduction alone may not be enough, suggesting the entire stretch requires structural redesigning, including closing side junctions and installing roundabouts to handle the volume of traffic safely.
Other road users highlighted problems with anti-social behaviour that they said speed cameras alone could not address.
One local motorcyclist reported witnessing what they described as motocross bikes being ridden dangerously near the Clearbrook junction, warning that “all the speed cameras in the world are useless in such instances” and calling for increased physical police patrols instead.