0-70mph - Okehampton Bypass (East-Bound) Traditional Cache
OckmentBells: Archiving for now. Will re-release in better weather!
0-70mph - Okehampton Bypass (East-Bound)
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A simple cache and dash on the East-Bound Carriageway of the Okehampton Bypass.
ALR's are no longer allowed in Geocaching but if they were this cache's one would be: Tiredness Kills so Take a Break.
Introduction
Okehampton needed a bypass; very few people would dispute this fact. This now expanding Devon town stands just to the north of the northernmost boundary of the Dartmoor National Park, and one of the two main London to Cornwall roads - the A30 - runs through it. Holiday traffic to and from Cornwall during peak holiday times, and heavy goods vehicles all year round, caused serious congestion in the town which in turn caused hazards, noise and inconvenience to local people. The problem was where to build the bypass - to the north of Okehampton through relatively better farmland or to the south through the northern edge of the Dartmoor National Park which, although of less agricultural value, has a significant landscape, ecological, archaeological and recreational value of local and national importance.
Before the Bypass
For most through-traffic to and from Cornwall the A30 is a shorter route than the A38 via Plymouth. In the summer months a system of Holiday Routes (HR) was implemented to divert traffic away from the town centre. One HR connects the M5 at Sampford Peverell and Sourton Down by the way of Tiverton and Crediton. In 1978 a further HR was introduced connecting Whiddon Down and Sourton Down via de Bathe Cross. Under-used, these routes offered little relief to the town.
Dual carriageways had already been opened on the A30 between Exeter and Whiddon Down 1970s), Whiddon Down to Tongue End (1987)
Which Route?
A northern route for the bypass had been considered in the early 1960s but, in 1966, it was recommended that a southern route, utilising the British Rail Exeter-Okehampton- Plymouth railway line be adopted; obviously this option could only be pursued if the railway closed and, at that time, this would have been a good compromise - little agricultural land would have been taken and the infringement into the National Park would have been minimal. 
However, in the early 1970s the railway line was reprieved and remained open between Exeter and Meldon Quarry; a new southern option running parallel to the line was suggested. In August 1976 the Department of the Environment (DoE) announced its ‘preferred route’, south of Okehampton, south of the railway line and through the edge of the National Park.
The question of where the road should go became the subject of intense debate. During 1979/80 a Public Inquiry, which lasted 96 days, was held in Okehampton to determine whether the southern route was acceptable. Supporters of the southern route at the Inquiry included the Department of Transport, Devon County Council and a farming lobby, while objectors were the Countryside Commission, Dartmoor National Park Authority as well as national and local amenity bodies. The Inquiry decision was delayed, due to the Inspector’s illness, until September 1983 when the Secretaries of State for Transport and the Environment announced their endorsement of the Inspector’s recommendation for the southern route. On 30 September 1983 the Dartmoor National Park Committee considered this decision and recorded ‘its grave dismay that the Government’s commitment to keeping trunk roads outside National Parks should be so easily set aside.’
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Sbex bs gerr orfvqr n fgbar
Treasures
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