A377 survey work is finished — here’s what comes next for the Boniface Trail

The temporary traffic lights have gone from the A377, but work on the Boniface Trail has not stopped. The three-week programme between Crediton and Newton St Cyres was gathering the information needed to turn an agreed route on a map into a more detailed engineering design.

Specialist topographical surveys ran from 7 to 23 September, covering the A377 between the Tesco roundabout in Crediton and Newton St Cyres.

They recorded detailed information about the existing highway and surrounding land — the sort of measurements engineers need before deciding exactly how a proposed path, crossings and junction changes could fit alongside the road.

So although they looked like roadworks to drivers caught at the temporary lights, this was not construction of the Boniface Trail itself.

What did the surveys actually do?

The Boniface Trail is planned as a roughly 12km walking and cycling route from Crediton railway station to Exeter St David’s, passing Smallbrook, Newton St Cyres and Cowley.

Devon County Council formally endorsed its preferred alignment in January.

For most of the journey it would follow the A377, while the section between Newton St Cyres and Langford would use quieter lanes because of physical constraints alongside the main road.

The September surveys concentrated on the first part of the corridor.

Devon said the information gathered would allow engineers to develop the design and better understand how the trail could be delivered safely.

So what happens now?

The next major step is detailed design.

That is where the broad preferred route starts becoming something much more precise: exact path widths and positions, crossings, drainage, junction arrangements, boundaries, retaining works and other engineering details.

Devon’s project report lists detailed design and landowner negotiations as the next steps for the Crediton-to-Newton St Cyres section.

There is also some actual funding behind that stage.

A Devon County Council Cabinet Member report in May said funding for the design of the first phase had been approved in March through the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority transport capital programme.

Land is another part of the puzzle

Some sections cannot simply be squeezed into the existing highway verge.

Devon’s Cabinet has authorised the start of land acquisition through negotiations with affected landowners — and potentially through a Compulsory Purchase Order if required — subject to funding being identified.

That means design work and land discussions can increasingly happen in parallel.

The county’s January report envisaged the scheme being delivered in phases because of its size and cost, with Crediton to Newton St Cyres likely to go first.

Construction only follows later, once the necessary design, land arrangements, approvals and funding are in place.

And then there is the money

This remains the biggest unanswered question.

The November 2025 project report estimated the entire scheme at between roughly £13 million and £15.56 million, in 2025 prices.

Its upper estimates were:

• £4.6m for Crediton to Newton St Cyres;
• £3.54m from Newton St Cyres towards Cowley;
• £7.42m for Cowley to Exeter.

The final section is particularly expensive because the preferred route would require major new crossings around Cowley Bridge, including bridges over the Rivers Creedy and Exe and the main railway line.

Devon has been clear that full construction funding has not yet been identified.

The council’s argument for progressing the route and design now is that having an agreed, better-developed scheme puts it in a stronger position to seek government grants and developer contributions later.

What about the rest of the trail?

The design work becomes more complicated beyond Newton St Cyres.

For the section towards Cowley, Devon’s project report also recommends investigating whether Station Road and Court Barton Lane could operate as designated Quiet Lanes.

Towards Exeter, additional ecological work is required to support the proposed river and railway bridges at Cowley Bridge, alongside further design work and land negotiations.

That helps explain why the project is expected to proceed in sections rather than one enormous Crediton-to-Exeter construction contract.

When will people actually be able to use it?

There is currently no published construction start date for the complete Boniface Trail.

That is probably the most useful answer for residents at this stage.

The preferred route exists. The first-phase design is funded. The latest surveys are complete. Detailed design and land discussions are next.

But the capital needed to build the route still has to be assembled.

So the next obvious milestone is not another three weeks of traffic lights — it is seeing what the detailed design for Crediton to Newton St Cyres actually looks like, how land issues are resolved and whether construction funding follows.