MOTORISTS have already faced a week of prolonged journeys, long queues and slow-moving traffic on the A338 Wessex Way in Bournemouth.

Vehicles have queued back to the Springbourne Roundabout slip road at peak times on the westbound carriageway, while in the opposite direction journeys have been longer than normal from the County Gates Gyrator and nearby roads.

This is all due to the Wessex Way being reduced to one lane in both directions between Bournemouth West and St Paul's roundabouts, with a 30mph speed limit in place for safety reasons.

With Christmas Tree Wonderland under way and the roadworks not due to be completed until early December, motorists are likely to face further frustration.

What work is being carried out?

BCP Council contractors are carrying out work on the central reservation either side of the slip roads for the Richmond Hill Roundabout.

The £250,000 scheme involves the construction of two crossover points.

A crossover point is a break in the reservation that enables traffic to drive across a smooth surface and be switched onto the other carriageway when required.

The work has been funded through a government capital grant.

Council officers said delivering the project will assist with traffic management for future roadworks on this section of the Wessex Way in the future.

The crossovers are expected to take three weeks to comple meaning there will be disruption on the A338 and surrounding roads until December 2.

How are journeys beign disrupted?

The first impact is quite obvious. Reducing the section of the Wessex Way to a single lane in both directions between the two roundabouts means the space for vehicles on the road has been cut in half.

While some motorists may seek alternative routes, the number of vehicles using the road will not fall by this number, in fact with visitors expected to flock to Christmas Tree Wonderland, they could even increase.

A secondary impact is from the closure of the slip road onto the A338 eastbound from Richmond Hill Roundabout. This element of the traffic management is forcing motorists to go along the westbound carriageway to Bournemouth West and complete a U-turn. These drivers are then having to merge into the existing queue of vehicles.

The queue of traffic westbound going back beyond St Paul's Roundabout is creating problems for vehicles trying to get onto the Wessex Way from St Paul's Road.

More roadworks on the horizon

When the council released details of the project to install crossovers, it was confirmed they were a precursor to work that needed to be carried out on the Braidley Road overbridge section of the Wessex Way.

A date and duration for this overbridge work has not been released, however, BCP Council has said it will require the use of crossovers to contraflow traffic onto the opposite carriageway.

Engineers need to carry out routine maintenance on the overbridge as well as replace the movement joints.

These joints are continuous strips across each side of the carriageway.

BCP Council told the Daily Echo that all large structures move due to thermal expansion and contraction and they are constructed with a gap at one or both ends to accommodate this movement. This gap needs to be sealed with a movement joint to prevent water from leaking onto the substructure.

Following an inspection of the overbridge in October 2019, the council found identified the need to replace the movement joints.

During this time, engineers took this opportunity to carry out short-term repairs to the movement joints, ensuring the structure was safe and serviceable. The joints have been monitored and inspected regularly since then.

The full replacement will be carried out “in the near future”.

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