Published on Tuesday 05 October 2021
A number of improvement works are taking place on roads across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole over the next few weeks as part of the annual Highways Structural Maintenance Programme.
Work includes a pothole prevention programme on 28 roads across the conurbation; heavy duty road resurfacing on small sections of the highway; and drainage work on three main roads to prepare them for full resurfacing works early next year.
In OctoberBCP Council are commencing their micro asphalt surfacing programme on 28 roads as part of their pothole prevention strategy. Micro asphalt is a quick and cost-effective method of extending the life span of the existing road surface by preventing potholes and improving skid resistance.
Roads receiving this treatment include the B3059 Parkside Road and Woodside Road as well as the cliff top roads of Boscombe Cliff Road, Boscombe Overcliff Drive, part of Southbourne Overcliff Drive and Southbourne Coast Road. Local residents have been notified that while these works take place, there will be road closures and a parking suspension from 8am-6pm daily. A site in Hengistbury Head carpark will be used to store materials for the duration of this work.
From 18 October, the council’s highways maintenance team will be laying a new heavy duty road surface on Poole Hill, from Terrace Road (outside Ojo Rojo) to St. Michael’s roundabout. This will be done in several stages over a 14-day period. During this time, no buses or through traffic will be able to use this road and the council are in close conversation with the bus operators. A temporary diversion will be in place using Durley Chine Road, Durley Road South, West Cliff Road, and Priory Road – from St. Michael’s Roundabout to the BIC Roundabout. The pavements will remain available to pedestrians throughout this period.
Other sites that will be getting the same treatment include bus laybys in Deansleigh Road near Bournemouth Hospital, A3060 Castle Lane West near Castlepoint shopping centre and the Yarrow Road roundabout and ‘on-slip’ near Tower Park in Poole, which will see a five-day road closure starting 15 November.
Finally, at the beginning of November, drainage work is due to commence on Commercial Road in Poole to prepare the road for resurfacing works which are due to take place early next year. Funding for this work has come from the Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund and will see the drains fixed, a new road surface, new footway surfaces in places and refurbished traffic signals at two of the three junctions.
Residents are advised to leave more time for their journey whilst the work is in progress, although there will be no work taking place here before the run-up to Christmas.
Christchurch Road in Bournemouth and Ashley Road in Boscombe will be undergoing site investigation works at the same time, with their main road resurfacing taking place around Easter 2022.
Councillor Mike Greene, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Sustainability commented:
"We are dedicated to transforming travel across our conurbation and this includes improving the roads to ensure a cleaner, smoother journey through Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
"I realise that there will be disruption to people’s journeys while these works are taking place and ask everyone to try and plan ahead by using alternative routes where possible or leave extra time for journeys that go through these routes.
"We’re committed to our Dynamic Places objective, supporting an innovative, successful economy and in order to achieve this we need to invest in our infrastructure as it is crucial to our development as the UKs newest city region."
For more information on all the works taking place including specific roads and dates, please visit the highways maintenance page.