Work on the long-awaited £42 million, A38 bypass for the village of Dobwalls, near Liskeard, began officially today when Roads Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman cut the first turf to get the scheme underway.

Work on the long-awaited £42 million, A38 bypass for the village of Dobwalls, near Liskeard, began officially today when Roads Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman cut the first turf to get the scheme underway.

The new 1.5 mile (3km) dual carriageway around the village will remove 90% of traffic from the centre of Dobwalls, creating a safer and more peaceful environment for the local community and reducing journey times for traffic on the A38 trunk road.

The new bypass is expected to open by September 2008. The road scheme includes new local road connections and a new roundabout connecting Dobwalls village to the re-routed A38 and the A390 to St Austell.

During his visit to the South West, Dr Ladyman also opened the £11 million Merrymeet junction improvements on the A30 near Okehampton.