A30 roadworks causing 'chaos' on rural roads, says Cornwall councillor
The works are expected to continue for another six months.
Ongoing roadworks on the A30 and A38 have been described as "chaos" by a local councillor.
National Highways began the safety improvement works on September 5 and they are expected to continue for around six months.
Cornwall councillor Adrian Parsons said the project has caused significant disruption for those living and working in the area, with traffic regularly diverting onto narrow rural roads.
Cllr Parsons said the works have had a particular impact during peak times, including weekends and weekday commutes.
"I think it's had quite an impact on the local community, especially weekends, peak times when people may be going to and through work, mornings and evenings, Fridays, Mondays," he said.
"There's been a particular issue on the A30 where traffic goes from the two lanes into a single file lane, which is causing the gridlock on the dual carriageway.
"Off the back of that we're seeing the traffic spill onto the rural roads wherever they can get their closest exit to get off."
He said this is likely due to sat navs trying to direct people on the most direct or quickest route.
He said this is "causing chaos" on rural roads and "impacting everybody who lives and works in this area."
Cllr Parsons said the situation has made it difficult for some people to leave their homes, and has affected farmers and other businesses in the area.
"Back lanes are absolutely jammed, so you reach a situation where some people even struggle to get out of their homes," Cllr Parsons said.
"When they get out of their homes it can take ages to get onto the main road because there's just such a constant flow of traffic coming towards you."
He added: "For businesses and farmers this isn't easy because you've only got a certain amount of time to get your work done in a day and you don't want to spend all that time sat in a traffic jam for an hour or two trying to reach your field or destination."
Cllr Parsons said the works were originally expected to cost £4.6million, but that figure has since risen to around £9million.
"It's looking like it's going to be six months," Cllr Parsons said.
"You would like to think they could perhaps push this on for the amount of work that's being delivered. I would like to think they could do it in six months.
"They were talking about a cost of 4.6 million now. Now it seems to have escalated to 9 million.
"I'm not exactly sure where all the money is being spent, but the sooner they can get this delivered, the better it'll be for everybody who lives and works around this area."
He added that continued delays would come at a cost to communities across the wider region.
"The poor delivery management is having a real impact on local businesses and residents," Cllr Parsons said.
"People are facing significant delays, not just locally, but it's also affecting people across the wider area.
"Obviously there's a cost to wider Cornwall due to this, but our rural communities are bearing the brunt of the disruption.
"So I'd like to think, you know, another six months of this would be unacceptable. So let's hope they can push on and get the work finished as soon as possible."
Cllr Parsons said the safety improvements to the A30 were necessary, but criticised the way the project was managed in the lead-up to construction starting.
"I think we all accept that safety improvements were needed on the A30," Cllr Parsons said.
"I think what was unacceptable was running up to this. There was a lack of meaningful dialogue between those delivering the scheme and the communities directly affected by it.
"And I think perhaps with some more public engagement, they could have considered or they would have had a greater knowledge of what perhaps the consequences of these works would have been on local traffic flows.
"You know, if ever there was or is an accident on the A30, there were certain areas around here that soon get jammed up and there are ways which this can be mitigated, which done to perhaps the best of what we could have done."
Cllr Parsons also raised concerns about the safety of increased traffic on rural roads not designed for heavy volumes.
"We're seeing the large volumes of traffic spilling onto the roads. People get frustrated. We got inappropriate driving for our villages," he said.
"Gridlock on the country lanes is making people particularly grumpy when our roads aren't designed to cope with these levels of traffic."