UTILITY work to a key Newton Abbot road is due to start next month.

Drivers can expect further delays to their journeys from February as utility work to Ashburton Road gets underway.

Work to install utility services along the A383 to the Houghton Barton housing development had been due to start in November 2025.

However, the work was pushed back until February 2026 after a public backlash and subsequent discussions between the key players: Teignbridge District Council, Devon County Council and Bloor Homes.

As such, Bloor Homes will carry out the work under temporary traffic lights for around 30 weeks from February.

The work was originally due to take up to 50 weeks, but the housing developer’s contractor agreed to a series of mitigation measures to minimise the impact of the work.

These include: extended hours and additional staff; work on verges and pavements where possible rather than the road and temporary traffic lights will be manually controlled and work will be managed to reduce the need for three-way traffic lights.

Also, the work will include all utility services so as to prevent the need to return at a later date for further installations.

Planning permission has been granted for 1,100 homes at Houghton Barton, which is a strategic development site in Teignbridge District Council’s Local Plan.

Utility connections to the homes have to be installed along Ashburton Road, and pausing the development would ‘jeopardise the Council’s statutory housing delivery targets’, Devon County Council said.

Councillor Dan Thomas, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, said: ‘We have been in discussion for some time with Bloor Homes and Teignbridge District Council about work planned on the A383.

‘A lot of work has gone into reaching a solution which provides a way forward and minimises disruption by almost halving the time needed for work on the A383’.