TEMPORARY traffic lights will bring severe disruption to Wallisdown Road until next month. 

Two-way lights were set up opposite Benbow Crescent at the end of the wide cycle lane section earlier this week. 

Highway work is taking place along the road this month, including 40m of new kerbing, in preparation for future cycle lane work. 

Currently, the existing roadworks controlled by two-way traffic lights will be in place until Friday, February 16. 

But two weeks after that starting from Monday, February 21, another set will be put up and last until Friday, March 1.

Bournemouth Echo: Roadworks in Wallisdown Road

Bournemouth Echo: Traffic in Wallisdown Road

BCP Council has said the work being carried out is preparation for future work linking the two extra wide cycle lanes already installed. 

Confirmation of when the remaining works are to begin will be confirmed in spring 2024, once budget allocation has been confirmed for financial year 2024/25. 

A spokesman for the council said the point of the work being done now is to “reduce the traffic management impact of the future works”. 

The existing stretches of cycle lanes have been controversial among many residents, who say they “never see any cyclists use them”. 

Last year, the Echo revealed BCP Council had overspent by around £510,000 on building the cycle lane, with the first phase having an overspend of £350,000, costing £2,029,000 to finish, and the second costing an extra £170,000 to complete – more than the £1.35m budgeted. 

However, those in favour of the cycle lane have said there aren’t people using them because they aren't joined up yet.

Work on the third and final phase of the cycle lane in Wallisdown Road, from Scott Road to Benbow Crescent, a distance of around half a mile, will cost £1,680,360.

The council’s ‘improvements’ in the Wallisdown area started near Mountbatten Arms in November 2020 – including a cycle lane along the busy Wallisdown Road.