A TOTAL of £230,000 is to be spent making a busy Bournemouth town centre roundabout safer and more appealing to cyclists.

Ten weeks of roadworks will start on the Richmond Hill roundabout next Monday, which will include the installation of traffic lights on the roundabout and at the exit from the westbound slip road.

Bournemouth council will also be taking the opportunity to re-waterproof the bridge deck and replace the bridge joints.

The Richmond Hill roundabout was one of two sites identified in the town to benefit from a £40million Department for Transport cycle safety fund. There were 22 accidents at the roundabout from 2007 to 2011, 18 of which involved cyclists and there were an additional five accidents at the roundabout in 2012, all of which involved cyclists.

The council received £100,000 of government funding and is putting in £80,000 of its own money, plus an additional £50,000 for the bridge deck works.

Cllr Michael Filer, cabinet Member for transport, said: “Bournemouth is a town keen to encourage its residents to take up cycling, so we are very pleased that with government backing we will now be able to improve safety at another site in the town for both cyclists and other vehicles.

“This additional funding complements our Getting About initiative.

“This aims to make cycling safer while encouraging more people to travel by bike – from on-the-ground improvements such as additional cycle lanes, crossings and traffic calming measures, to cycle training for children and adults.”

During the 10-week period, sections of the roundabout and the slip roads will be closed to enable the works to be completed. Diversions will be in place along the Wessex Way during these times. The council said it had planned the project to ensure minimum inconvenience and that some critical parts of the work would probably take place in the evenings.