THE A338 Spur Road will be closed overnight on the first weekend in January in preparation for the next phase of works.

On Saturday, January 5, and Sunday 6 the southbound carriageway will be shut.

From Monday, January 7, the road will be down to one lane again as the major roadworks scheme resumes following the Christmas break.

Phase two of the Blackwater Junction project has included: stripping all the topsoil from the verge; clearing, excavating and laying drainage ditches alongside the southbound carriageway, and extensive excavations for a new supporting embankment for the new slip road and the third lane from Blackwater Junction.

Temporary steel barriers have been installed along the carriageway, and a new concrete protection jacket has been built around the southbound pier of the Blackwater Bridge.

The deck of the Stour Bridge has been cleared and steel pins inserted for a new reinforced barrier.

The next phase of work will see the widening of the southbound carriageway into the verge, and concrete and steel barriers constructed either side of the bridge piers. A new parapet vehicle restraint barrier will be built over the River Stour Bridge, as well as a new retaining bank for the new lane immediately south of the River Stour Bridge.

Traffic management will be extended towards Cooper Dean as work begins in the area to link the new lane with the junction slip road.