ROADWORKS start on Monday as part of an engineering project climaxing with a weekend closure of the busy Bakers Arms roundabout.

Dorset County Council says motorists are unlikely to suffer any disruptions for at least a month, as initially work on the A351 Sandford Road cycleway takes place off the carriageway.

The Bakers Arms will eventually close for full resurfacing seven weeks into the project, on the first weekend of October. Full diversionary routes will be announced nearer the time.

Some critics – fearing a return to gridlock conditions that occurred during the Upton Bypass work last year – describe the move to close the Bakers Arms as “madness”.

This roundabout, at the junction of the A35 and A351, stands on one of the major routes in and out of Poole and Purbeck.

Cllr Fred Drane, who represents Lytchett, is urging that the work, which includes widening, drainage and cycle crossings, be carried out at night or postponed until after the holiday season.

“It’s madness,” he said. “It should be done outside of the normal holiday season and it should be planned in such a way they don’t have complete closures. They have done it before and they can do it again.”

The work is part of a larger project providing safer routes for cyclists and walkers along the length of the A351.

Lytchett Minster resident Robin Sequeira criticised the timing and said even without roadworks there were frequent tailbacks due to high volumes of holiday traffic.

“The Bakers Arms is a notorious traffic pinch point at the best of times,” he said.

Dorset County Council says that while the western approach can be widened without a road closure, the roundabout will have to be closed completely from 7pm on Friday, October 4 to 6am on Monday, October 7 for full construction of the carriageway.

“Most of the cycleway work will be done off the carriageway on the verge, but we may have to manage traffic occasionally for deliveries and to protect the workforce,” said Andrew Bradley, management engineer for the county council’s highways team.

“We will keep any disruption to the traffic flow to a minimum and any major works will be done outside commuter times where possible,” he said.

* THE work includes:

* Replacement of the road foundation and resurfacing

*Widening the A35 and A351 approaches to increase capacity and traffic flow at the roundabout

*Providing a foot/cycleway across the south and west of the roundabout from the A351 to Lytchett Minster

* Improving drainage on the roundabout

* Improving road markings