A planning application for the £60 million dualling of the A30 is due to be submitted next week in a bid to finally end gridlock at a notorious Cornish congestion blackspot.
Tailbacks on the 2.8-mile single lane stretch of the A30 from Temple to Higher Carblake often stretch back for more than six miles in each direction, causing delays of up to 75 minutes for motorists.
It has the dubious honour of being the only non dual carriageway section of trunk road between mid-Cornwall and central Scotland. Members of Cornwall Council's cabinet will tomorrow be asked to approve measures for the council to negotiate to buy land around the road in order for the development to go ahead.
They are also being asked to approve powers of compulsory purchase, if needed.
Cornwall Council has been trying to progress the scheme for the last 25 years but it was given a crucial funding boost last year when the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced £30 million in funding from the Department for Transport in his Autumn Statement.
In order to confirm this funding, Cornwall Council will submit a business case to the DfT next month.
A total of £20 million of the remaining funding is likely to come from the next round of European funding, with a grant application due next summer. The final £10 million is expected to come from Cornwall Council.
Because the scheme is such a significant one, the planning application will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on August 7.
The Secretary of State for Transport will then appoint an inspector to assess the bid and to make a recommendation about whether to give it the go-ahead. If approvals are given, work would start on site by January 2015 and would be completed two years later.
Cornwall Council has previously said the new-look road could mean a £117 million economic boost for the Duchy, with holidaymaker numbers and businesses set to be boosted by the prospect of a cut in tailbacks.
Adrian Penter, Cornwall chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "It's very much welcomed, particularly when other schemes have not had the green light to go ahead. From a business perspective it's very positive but let's not rest on our laurels.
"I'm rather keen to carry on with the dual carriageway through the rest of the A30 because it's one of the main roads into Cornwall.
"There are also a lot of other infrastructure projects in the region that need support, like the dualling of the A303 which sees everything come to a standstill. The cost of delays to business is quite considerable."
The single carriageway stretch of the A30 carries around 19,000 cars a day, a figure which rises to 38,000 in summer, causing delays as well as knock-on problems on other routes as motorists try to find a way around the tailbacks.
Two consultation events on plans for the dualling saw 86% and 83% of respondents supporting the proposed dualling scheme.