A31 Ringwood lane widening project to finish tomorrow

From 6am on Saturday, November 19, the A31 lane widening and bridge replacement project will finish and the road will fully re-open between the Ringwood and Verwood junctions.

The eastbound section maintains its four lanes, while westbound now has three lanes. The westbound Ringwood and eastbound Verwood entry slips will also re-open.

One final overnight closure for the removal of traffic management measures and other preparations will take place tonight (Friday November 18) on the A31 eastbound between A338 Ashley Heath and M27 J1 Cadnam from 8pm until 6am on Saturday morning.

Originally targeted for completion on November 30, National Highways will complete the project 11 days ahead of schedule.

Bridge replacement work on A31 at Ringwood. Picture: Paddy Butler

Among the biggest undertakings of the scheme was in June this year when the two bridges that carried the westbound A31 were demolished and rebuilt to cater for the additional lane.

Traffic joining from the Ringwood junction onto the A31 will do so via the new lane, rather than trying than merge with traffic already on the road. The old slip roads off the B3347 Mansfield Road onto the A31 westbound had long been regarded as dangerous by motorists and residents.

Both carriageways will return to a 70mph speed limit, replacing the temporary 50mph limit which was in place throughout the works. However, it is understood following lobbying by some residents over safety, National Highways are investigating calls for the 50mph limit to be made permanent.

Ahead of the scheme finishing, Ringwood Town councillor and A31 forum representative Philip Day told the Echo he was “glad it’s all over”.

A31 looking towards Ringwood

“I would say it’s not been as bad as we thought it might be. In terms of congestion on local roads our worst fears were not realised, which is good. But that’s not to say we didn’t have some chaos during parts because we did.

“Will it make a difference to congestion and safety? We’re going to have to wait and see. There are concerns on the impact the third lane will have when the petrol station reopens.

“But for National Highways to finish ahead of schedule, well done to them.”

He also backed calls for the 50mph limit to remain in place, citing how incidents within the stretch had dropped “remarkably”.

It is believed locally the Esso garage will reopen in December. Esso operator Rontec has been approached to confirm.

A National Highways spokesperson said: “Thank you to everyone for their patience while we’ve delivered this challenging scheme. Throughout the duration of the scheme, we’ve worked closely with local authorities and a number of community groups to ensure the benefits of this scheme are felt by all.”