Roadworks shambles: council to remove cones from the A35 but Blandford Road to be closed BOTH ways (From Bournemouth Echo)

5:31pm

It doesn't look like the Blandford Road closure is causing any major issues so we're going to call it a day.

You can still email us at digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk if you know of any problems relating to Blandford Road or the Upton bypass.

4:56pm

We're starting to see reports of slow traffic on the A35 again and on the A351 up to the Bakers Arms - but we think that's because the cones aren't being removed until 5pm

10:47am

Reporter Jim Durkin is out at Turlin Moor - he says a lot of people obviously didn't know about the closure bnecause there's a steady stream of cars coming from the Poole direction being forced to turn around...

10:29am

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9:31am

Talking to Poole reporter Di Henderson, she think the main traffic issues with the Blandford Road closure won't be until this afternoon - going towards Turlin Moor this morning should be easy because there's not much other traffic going that way, but this evening's rush hour could prove a pinch point as everyone tries to take Holes Bay Road.

Fingers crossed the Twin Sails bridge doesn't choose today for a breakdown.

9:27am

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8:24am

And a letter from a very disgruntled reader who says DCC based their decision to do the eatbound lane first on the flow of traffic, but...

Having contacted Dorset Council this morning a highways official informed me that the eastern direction of the bypass was less busy than the western direction according to the survey they did earlier on in the year. (then the ferry was working, the Blandford road was not closed and due to the recession, there were generally fewer cars around).

8:23am

An email overnight from a reader:

I live in Upton and I'm furious about it, so much so that I've set up a website and facebook page about it.

It would be great if you could give it a mention, if we can capture the public feeling and work together about this rather than a few people letting off steam individually we might be able to do something about it.

The website is at www.pooletraffic.co.uk

8:22am

Katie Clark is out in Turlin Moor to see what the score is on Blandford Road, so we'll keep you updated.

8:22am

Morning all. It seems as though the reopening of the carriageway between the A350 and Upton COuntry Park is making a difference to traffic this morning although do let us know if you know differently...

5:18pm

Okay folks - we think we've given you all the information we can for tonight but we'll be back in the morning to report on what's happening with Blandford Road and to see if there's an improvement on the Upton bypass.

Should anything else happen tonight we will post it here - and if you want to tell us anything, email using the link below.

5:05pm

As ever, if you're not registered to comment but you want to have a say, email me at digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk...

5:02pm

Di Henderson has just sent us this from a chat she's been having with Fred Winwood, Hamworthy resident and chairman of Hamside Residents Association:

“I’m fuming. I do think the people of Hamworthy are being very flexible in this situation,” he said.

“The way this has all happened at the same time is an absolute disgrace. They haven’t got the capability to organise something like this, it could only happen by accident.”

4:58pm

Re the Blandford Road closure, some clarification: The road will be closed from 9.30am, from north of Turlin Road to the south of Allens Lane. It's not a very long stretch at all, but because of the railway line (and of course the sea!) there's no easy way around it.

4:49pm

One of our reporters has been speaking to St Edwards school about the Blandford Road closures: 

THE head teacher at St Edward's school on Dale Valley Road, Poole, said both her staff and pupils were being affected by road works.

Mrs Tola Bevan said: “It's not just Blandford Road that is affected; the disruption is widespread with quite a few staff having to set off considerably earlier and having to take alternative routes.

“Our students come from a wide catchment area; some live in Upton and Hamworthy. People setting off from Kinson are also having to take alternative routes and one of our coaches will not be able to go to Turlin Moor until Monday.”

I'm not sure what that last means for students who live in Turlin Moor... two free days off maybe? 

4:45pm

4:42pm

Here's a map to try and demonstrate that:

Cones will be removed between C and B but remain in place between A and C

4:40pm

To summarise:

• Cones will be removed from the section of road between the A350 and Upton COuntry park during rush hour but WILL remain from the Bakers Arms roundabout to the A350 until November 16
•  patching and drainage work will be done tonight to allow the closures to be removed
• the cones will be back in place from 9am-5pm

4:35pm

Okay, we've now got the statement from DCC re the cones on the A35. Here it is in full:

Traffic management on the A35 Upton Bypass is being altered to help ease congestion.

From Thursday 8 November, cones between the A350 junction with the A35 Upton Bypass and the Upton Park junction will be removed during the morning and evening rush hour traffic.

Listening to concerns from residents and the business community, the additional work being undertaken on the bypass is being reprogrammed and accelerated.

Tonight, work will jump to the eastern section of the road for surface patching and drainage work and the lane closure will be removed in time for the morning peak traffic.

The lane closure will come back into effect after the morning rush hour has finished, with the cones being walked back out from 9am. The lane closure will be removed by 5pm each day.

Dorset County Council Cabinet member for transport Peter Finney said: “We’ve listened to people’s frustrations over the last three days and have reviewed the traffic management and programme of works to see how we can ease the situation.

“We believe that removing this section of lane closure should alleviate congestion where the A350 joins with the bypass, easing the flow of traffic.

“Unfortunately, we are unable to remove the lane closure between the Bakers Arms Roundabout and the A350 junction, but – weather permitting – this work will be completed on Friday 16 November.”

From Saturday 17 November, there will be minimal traffic management left in place while the bridge strengthening work continues, as the additional road maintenance will have been finished.

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4:16pm

We're not sure what the effect on the schools is as yet but we're asking the questions...

4:16pm

Comment from Facebook re the Blandford Road closure: 

Hazel Christopher I know my kids are at school at St Edwards and no idea how this will effect the school bus, just going to see my daughter who just had a baby has cost me a fortune as she lives in Hamworthy and I am on the moor and having to drive all the way round everytime is a nightmare and now this.....its a total joke !

3:58pm

We're still waiting for the official statement from the county council on when and how the A35O junction will be reopened - we haven't forgotten, we promise!

3:11pm

Don't forget, if you're not registered to comment you can email us at digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk

2:59pm

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2:24pm

An interesting comment posted under our top story - we're checking whether it's true or not now...

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11:13am

Don't forget, if you want to let us know what you think of the works or tell us how you're trying to avoid the queues then you can email digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk or post a comment below.

10:57am

Lytchett Matravers resident Davina Chapman fears there may be a "serious accident" if cars continue to be pushed through the village.

Read more about what local residents had to say here

10:46am

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10:31am

One Poole to Swanage commuter said the following of their journey this morning:

The queue was at least a mile long on the Sandford Road leading to the Bakers Arms roundabout.

While Sandra Palmer of Farmer Palmers at Organford said her journeytime was halved today:

It took me just under 20 minutes from Organford to take the children to school at Upton. Yesterday it was 40 minutes.

10:18am

9:59am

Some more pictures from the Bakers Arms this morning

9:57am

Michelle says traffic is much lighter in Lytchetts Minster and Matravers this morning - the talk at the school gates is that most people have left much earlier to avoid the jams. It still took her 20 minutes to do a journey that would normally take five, though.

9:55am

A flashback to yesterday, when some drivers were complaining that the road was closed overnight on Monday, causing them to miss Poole's fireworks display because they were stuck in traffic. Our photographic assistant Michelle Luther has just sent this pic of the signs which do indeed say work starts on Nov 6, not Nov 5.

9:53am

A comment from Geoff Beck, on our Facebook page:

Corfe Mullen, once again, bears the brunt of being the 'rat-run' whenever there's any A31, Upton, bypass or Gravel Hill work.
Queues back the Lamb's Green and all the way through the village, as the Wingreen roundabout acts as a intersection for all the short-cuts. Utterly ridiculous 

9:32am

However, we will try and get a timeline of what happened in what order for those who you who like to know these details...

9:31am

A question from Wintonian

You can read all about the problems with the Blandford Road water main - but essentially this is an issue that's been ongoing all year. It's the fourth time the pipe has been dug up, and works have been delayed from August after the Wessex Water team found a hole under the road that needed to be investigated by Borough of Poole council. 

The pipe in question does urgently need repair - it burst three times in a month earlier this year.

9:28am

Don't forget you can email us your thoughts if you're not registered to comment - digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk

9:25am

9:10am

9:08am

David Cain, managing director of Marine Components, who are based in Poole, has just sent us a copy of this email he's sent to Borough of Poole council.

Congratulations Poole Council – in conjunction with Purbeck Council, Dorset county Council and D-o-T you have instituted the ultimate road safety programme in Upton by totally stopping all movement of traffic!

My staff cannot get to and from work, my customers are not coming near the area, deliveries are delayed or cancelled and the pollution level s from all the stationary traffic must be sky-high.

I read that you claim the combination of works currently grid locking the area is ‘unavoidable’ and must be all done at once.

I find this unbelievable – the Wessex Water works may well be considered necessary after their incompetence over the past months at their many attempts to repair their water mains, but I cannot see why the Upton bypass works could not have been delayed until the water works were completed – particularly as the Sandbanks ferry is also out of service and compounding the problem. After all you only have a year’s foreknowledge of the ferry maintenance programme!

This is sheer incompetence on the part of everyone involved in the various organisations supposedly planning these works – if you displayed this level of incompetence in the private sector none of you would be employed.

As things stand if I still have a business after Christmas I will be surprised – please review your planning on this and for God’s sake postpone the A35 works until Wessex Water have finished.

9:03am

8:58am

In response to live-and-let-live's comment, yesterday Borough of Poole told us: 

The Dorset County Council works are also essential, as the structural integrity of the Policeman's Lane bridge over the Upton Bypass is at risk unless the structure is repaired. If the bridge were to fail then there would be many months of disruption while a new structure is built.

The implication of course being that the bridge is at risk of collapse. However Dorset County Council say the bridge is definitely not about to collapse, but it does not meet the required standards, main issue being what would happen if a car were to hit one of the pillars. 

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Councillor Fred Drane, who represents Lytchett on the county council, has called for the work to be stopped until after Christmas: “Now they have seen the chaos it’s causing, why can’t they say it’s too much and call it off?”

You can read his full comments and the rest of our front page story here

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An interesting comment from last night:

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7:23am

Morning everyone. Reports are it's just starting to slow down on the A35  - we'll be back at about 8.15 (I'm writing this from home and I need to get to the office!) - keep updated via the ttraffic feed and as ever let us know your thoughts in the comments, via email on or #uptonbypass

7:32pm

That's all for tonight, folks.

We'll be back tomorrow with the latest on how the traffic is moving on day two of the roadworks plus there's two pages of coverage and reaction on the jams inside tomorrow's Echo.

You can continue to let us know what you think of the works by commenting below, via Twitter using the hashtag #uptonbypass or by emailing us at digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk

In case you missed it earlier, here's what exactly is going to be happening on the Upton bypass:

From now until December 7 - five weeks - the eastbound carriageway is down to one lane. And the end of that five weeks we'll be back to two lanes eastbound and the ferry will be running again.

The Blandford Road works continue until December 24.

There's then a break until after Christmas. From Jan 14 for five weeks the westbound carriageway of the Upton bypass will be down to one lane.

Then from Feb 18, the fast lanes on both carriageways will be closed until Mar 15. And from Mar 11 -22 the westbound lane will be closed completely at night.

The council estimates 36,000 cars use the route every day.

7:14pm

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5:57pm

Time for another change of personnel. I'm passing you over to Darren Slade for the rest of the evening.

Let us know what you think of the roadworks in the comments below or by emailing us at digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk

Don't forget you can find out what's happening on the roads by visiting our live traffic feed

5:23pm

We can't help you with that third question unfortunately spooki, but we will pass your comments on to our central team:

5:14pm

Keith has got in touch with the following:

The main problem this morning was caused by the fact that DCC do not seem to be doing just what was proprosed in the original Echo article.

Today, they closed down to one lane, the road from the Upton/A350 Junction, Eastbound to the Upton House turn off.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the Policemans Lane bridge which is much further East. This appears to be additional work not notified.

Typically, there was no one working. This planning is an absolute dsigrace and somone needs to fix this urgently as with the other road works in Hamworthy this cannot continue.

Just to clarify; the work on Policeman's Lane Bridge was mentioned in a previous article published by the Echo, which you can read here

5:12pm

Our traffic feed has picked up slow traffic on the A35 at Lytchett Minster due to the roadworks.

If you're just getting home and want to give us a picture of what your journey on the Upton bypass has been like today, we'd still like to hear from you. Email digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk or add your comment below. Not registered? sign up here

4:32pm

4:31pm

Our feed is currently showing heavy traffic on the A3049 Ringwood Road at Alderney between the B3068 / Canford Way (Alderney Roundabout) and A348 / Francis Avenue (Mountbatten Roundabout).

4:11pm

Iain Odhams has emailed us to say the councils should have put their heads together to discuss the knock-on effect the works would have on the various routes:

Monday morning my journey from Upton to St Leonards took 25 minutes, about normal for 8:15am.  Today the exact same journey took me 1hr 25 minutes. What is interesting though is that I was going in the opposite direction to the traffic! 

It took me 10 minutes to turn right out of my driveway on Dorchester Road, Upton and then another 10 minutes to move the half mile to the double roundabout, 20 minutes for half a mile! 

The traffic was stacked up well into Corfe Mullen and towards Lychett Matravers. The A31 from Corfe Mullen heading to Canford Bottom was also gridlock as the traffic coming from Dorchester direction was having to find alternative routes into Bournemouth / Poole. 

I do not believe the statements from Poole Council, Dorset Council and the Ferry Operators.  I cannot believe that nobody has realised that blocking EVERY route from the West and Purbecks into Poole and Bournemouth at the same time is a good idea. 

On the Upton bypass, no work has even started, just lanes closed off with cones.  erhaps the overpaid powers that be could decide to work in the best insterest of the public for once and pull the plug on the Upton bypass roadworks until the Hamworthy roadworks have finished and the ferry is back. 

It would mean that different councils actually have to talk to one another....we will see.

3:51pm

3:47pm

Nothing as yet on the traffic feed about how the Upton bypass is flowing but we'll keep you posted as soon as we know what the situation is for this evening's rush hour.

3:45pm

Here's a picture Corin Messer took of the Sandbanks Chain Ferry making its way across to Southampton for its biennial refit:

3:19pm

Reader Dawn emailed in to say:

I live in Turlin Moor and I don’t understand why it’s going to take so long to complete the works there, they seem to be cracking on with it with certain parts of the road all complete.

But for the Upton Bypass to then have roadworks on at the same time seems ridiculous, the roads are not dangerous and the statement from Poole council is rubbish that they could not avoid them taking place together. 

I think the Bypass could have been postponed until after the New Year as they’re resurfacing and there is no potential danger as far as I can see.

I do normally cycle to work, but to have to go out in my car seems such an effort at the moment as it takes so long to get back to the Moor, even if you’re just popping out to Upton or Town. 

I was an hour and a half late this morning for work as I needed to take my car in today of all days, I shall be cycling again tomorrow and that’ll take me 20mins.

3:06pm

Rush hour is edging closer and we want you to keep us posted with how your journey home goes if you're heading into Poole.

Let us know in the comments or you can tweet @Bournemouthecho using the hashtag #uptonbypass.

2:37pm

We asked you earlier what you were planning to do tomorrow about the works, as it stands 68 per cent of you are planning on leaving earlier. Will this just cause earlier jams? There's still time to vote:

2:19pm

Hi everyone, Sarah hosting here now.

As Sam mentioned earlier we have some video footage for you, so if you weren't sat in the traffic this morning and are wondering what all the fuss is about, you can see it for yourself:

2:10pm

Change of personnel for the afternoon, Sarah Cartlidge will be your host for the evening rush hour. Don't forget to let us know what you thinl via Twitter (hashtag #uptonbypass) or on the email below. 

We'd like to hear from some people in Lytchett Matravers - how do you feel about all this traffic coming past your houses? What sort of impact is it having on you?

2:00pm

1:58pm

If you're going to be heading into Poole this evening, will you be leaving earlier?

Don't forget, if you were stuck in traffic this morning and haven't yet commented on the gridlock then you can still email your thoughts to us at digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk

1:51pm

We've got some video of the traffic this morning which should be online shortly, if you like that sort of thing.

1:36pm

And Corin Messer took this picture on the Upton bypass this morning.

1:33pm

Here's the traffic trying to get on the Wessex Way...

1:19pm

And as if that wasn't enough, Avon Causeway is closed until November 16 from Matchams Lane to Ringwood Road. I *think* we've run out of roadworks to tell you about now.

1:16pm

It seems the people of Bournemouth aren't going to escape the queues this week - two sets of roadworks planned on the Wessex Way. 

There's work being done all week on the slip road at Cooper Dean and today and tomorrow there's also work being done on the Kings Park slip road. We're not sure in which direction as there's not a lot of info here and the link provided to DCC, who are doing the works, is not working, so we'll get back to you when we know more.

1:09pm

With reference to Mrs Chapman's point about Huntick Road below, one of our friendly local weather forecasters says flooding could be an issue over the next couple of weeks:

@Bournemouthecho Potential for some vigorous systems mid-month with gales and rain. Likely to be the 8th month in a row of above avg rain.

— @WarehamWeather 06 November 2012

12:58pm

Another reader emails to say: 

I’m not usually one to complain and just sit in the traffic and get on with it but today was awful. 

We live in Creekmoor, had to drop my daughter off to school at Lytchett Minster and then get to work in Poole. 

Our journey which normally takes around 20 minutes in total today took an hour!!!  Why are these roadworks being started the same time as the roadworks in Hamworthy!!  Surely these roadworks could have waited until the Hamworthy ones had finished.

My son has to get a bus every day from Creekmoor to Poole then catch the connection bus to Bournemouth Uni.  This means he is going to be late everyday for University.

12:57pm

12:57pm

It's probably worth clarifying what's actually happening on the Upton bypass because some readers are confused about how long the works go on.

So from now until December 7 - five weeks - the eastbound carriageway is down to one lane. And the end of that five weeks we'll be back to two lanes eastbound and the ferry will be running again.

The Blandford Road works continue until December 24.

There's then a break until after Christmas. From Jan 14 for five weeks the westbound carriageway of the Upton bypass will be down to one lane. 

Then from Feb 18, the fast lanes on both carriageways will be closed until Mar 15. And from Mar 11 -22 the westbound lane will be closed completely at night.

The council estimates 36,000 cars use the route every day.

12:47pm

Mrs Chapman has emailed us to say she's worried there will be an accident due to all the cars using country lanes as a cut through

I live in Lytchett Matravers and this morning Huntick Road (which is a country lane) was more like the M25 as cars from all directions used it as a cut through. 

This road is used for parents to take students to Lytchett Minster School and during bad weather it is often flloded or during cold weather extremely dangerous as it is not gritted.

At the end of the road where it joins the Poole Road students heading to the school from Upton could not cross the road because of the continuos flow of traffic.

The village of Lytchett Matravers is often used as a diversion route when there are accidents on the Blandford Road or the Bere Regis Road, roads such as Huntick Road & Foxhills Lane are country lanes with no pavements and are not suitable for constant flows of traffic I am concerned that there will be a serious accident if cars are continuously pushed through the village.

Here's a map of where Huntick Road is:

The official diversion is through Lytchett Minster - along the B3067 through Upton and back on to the A35 at Upton Country Park or north to the A350.

12:41pm

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12:24pm

Service 387 which is the First Poole/Dorchester route has been running with delays all morning although they are clear now - but expect there to be problems this afternoon.

12:21pm

The Wilts and Dorset Swanage service  (Route 50) is running to an alternative route while the ferry is out of action. Details are here - it does take in the stretch of the A35 affected by the roadworks so we imagine there will be some delays.

12:16pm

BackoftheNet has a point to make about public transport.

Speaking of which, no word so far on how the roadworks are affecting buses. We'll try and find out.

12:10pm

Cherribare is taking Tricky to task for his "don't live there then" comment from earlier.

12:07pm

Here's some totally unconnected news, but since we're all here: The tip at Somerford is closed to the public until further notice because of a fire. We're getting reports of long queues of traffic being turned away. Katie Clark and Corin Messer are there now so we'll have a story up as soon as we can.

12:04pm

12:00pm

We've just been sent Dorset County Council's statement on the chaos:

Dorset County Council Cabinet member for transport Peter Finney said:

Tuesday was the first morning of the lane closure on the eastbound carriageway of the Upton Bypass, and there were considerable delays in the area as expected.

“There is no alternative way of carrying out these vital improvements and repairs and, due to the busy nature of this road, there will inevitably be delays for the duration of the work.

Drivers should, wherever possible, allow plenty of extra time for their journeys.”

11:58am

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11:48am

We think Tricky1007 is trying to wind you all up here: 

11:41am

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11:40am

The water main they refer to in that statement has indeed burst more than once. In fact it's been dug up four times in the last six months, and burst three times in just four weeks in May, making Hamworthy "practically a no go area" according to residents. In August Wessex Water found a hole under the road that stopped repair work temporarily.

You can see what the people of Hamworthy think about that in this story and in this story.

11:34am

We have had a response from Borough of Poole, though. It is as follows.

A spokesperson, Borough of Poole, said: "Unfortunately due to the urgency of both sets of works, in this case Blandford Road and the Upton By-Pass, the clash of these two schemes is unfortunate but unavoidable.

"The Wessex Water repairs are essential because of repeated bursting of a critical fresh water supply main. This work has to proceed without delay, as if it were to fail again it could potentially leave large areas of the local community in Hamworthy without drinking water and having to rely on filling containers from standpipes. Wessex Water are doing everything they can to minimise disruption and get the road reopened as soon as possible.

"The Dorset County Council works are also essential, as the structural integrity of the Policeman's Lane bridge over the Upton Bypass is at risk unless the structure is repaired. If the bridge were to fail then there would be many months of disruption while a new structure is built."

11:32am

11:31am

For info, we asked Dorset County Council for a statement a couple of hours ago but we've not heard anything yet - we'll post it here as soon as we have something.

11:26am

According to our latest info, the traffic queue now starts at Morden Park Corner, not Bloxworth. So better, but still not ideal. We'd be interested to hear what you're planning if you have to do this journey this evening - detour? Leave earlier? Leave later?

11:23am

Just to throw another spanner in the works, there's a giant Sunseeker on the way to Portland under police escort that's expected to cause delays on the A31, A35, A354 and A357.

It's 17.35m long and weighs 23,000kg. If you get a picture, send it to us!

11:17am

And the folks behind the Dorset Speed website (a name familiar to our commenters I'm sure) have emailed the following to a lot of councillors this morning:

Another DorsetSpeed award: the most ridiculous set of road closures of the year award.

I could not have better planned gridlock on the roads around Poole if I had tried. With the Turlin Moor road closed, and on November the 5th when there is a huge increase in traffic as people try to get to fireworks events, the A35 Upton bypass was closed for non-emergency bridge maintenance I believe.

And just to ensure complete misery in the busy run up to Christmas, the Sandbanks ferry will also be taken out for routine maintenance while these 2 closures are still in place.

I tried to take my sons swimming this evening, we just sat in traffic for half an hour and went home.

What the heck is going on in the brains of the people responsible for the roads in this area?

11:11am

We've been asking people on Twitter about the fireworks traffic last night - this poor soul wasn't stuck on the bypass but it still took a ridiculously long time to get home.

10:49am

Reader Ali has been on a mission to find out how this perfect storm of roadworks/closures came about. 

She lives in Upton and works in Hamworthy but her children go to school in Lytchett Matravers. She says it's taken her an hour to do the journeys and wonders if there's any chance of getting four-way traffic lights to help ease the problem.

We'll ask if that's an option or not. If you have thoughts and you're not registered to comment (why on earth not? :) you can email me at digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk.

10:43am

One of our readers has emailed to say she has seen signs on the A35 saying the roadworks are between Nov 6 and December 7, but the road was closed overnight last night which made the traffic problems after Poole's fireworks worse than they needed to be.

She writes "The road signs say the A35 will be closed between Tuesday 6 Nov and Friday 7 December. So how come it was closed last night, 5 Nov, when goodness knows how many people were trying to get to Poole for the fireworks? Like many others we were stuck in a traffic jam down Poole Road from Upton when we should have been enjoying the display."

10:36am

Our traffic feed is still reporting slow traffic and long delays - let us know if you've any more up to date info about what it's like at the moment. 

10:30am

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10:25am

Di Henderson has been talking to drivers at the Bakers Arms:

Sarajane Clark, 25,  took 30 minutes to take her child from Lytchet Minster to Upton, a trip that would normally take five minutes.

The roads were clear at 7.30am, said Carly Goddard, 23, when she drove to Lytchet Minster. "But I live at Turlin Moor and I'm not looking forward to going home through this and the one way traffic on Blandford Road."

10:24am

If you're just arriving at work because of the delays, do let us know what it's been like for you in the comments (or you can email digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk)

10:16am

With reference to the tweets below, one of our reporters did see an ambulance making its way through the roadworks this morning. She says it was struggling but did manage to make it through.

10:15am

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10:00am

One motorist who's just driven the other way to Dorchester says the out road is fine, but the traffic coming in to Poole is backed up to Bloxworth. We'll do a map so you can see exactly what that means!

9:55am

Meanwhile, the Sandbanks ferry team are preparing for their trip to Southampton:

9:52am

Over on our Facebook page people are asking why the various companies involved don't talk to each other.

Natalie Chambers says: Do these organisations not speak to each other? I feel sorry for people in upton and turlin moor as there only way to get out and into town is to use the upton bypass.

9:51am

9:51am

Our reporter Di Henderson is at the Bakers Arms - she says it is moving, but very slowly.

9:50am

Claire Boscarelli, our promotions manager, took an hour and forty minutes to do a journey that normally takes her 45 minutes. She ended up detouring through Lytchett Matravers, Corfe Castle, Wimborne and Gravel Hill but says she doesn't know what she's going to do tomorrow.

"It was horrendous, stop start all the time. I have no idea what I'm going to do this morning except get up at stupid o'clock."

9:48am

The ferry company told us they had not been told about the Upton bypass work: “We didn’t know anything about the work on the Upton bypass,” she told the Daily Echo. “We do this refit every other year at the same time of year.”

9:47am

Today's problems are down to three things, the start of a ten week project to replace a water main in Blandford Road; the start of a 15-week engineering project on the Upton bypass and the biennial refit of the Sandbanks ferry

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We're already getting some strong reactions via Twitter:

@Bournemouthecho road works on surrey road a joke too

— @KarynCuglietta 06 November 2012

@Bournemouthecho A big well done to whoever allowed this whilst Blandford Road is closed. Incompetence or sheer vindictiveness?

— @stuafcb 06 November 2012

9:44am

Morning.  It's pretty awful on the way into Poole this morning - we're going to us this blog to keep up you to date - let us know your thoughts in the comments.