POOLE is about to see millions spent on its road infrastructure through projects which are claimed to be worth £500million to the town’s economy.

But there will be major traffic disruption including lengthy closures for the town’s original lifting bridge and busy Gravel Hill.

Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has secured £23.3m for Poole as part of the government’s Growth Deal. It is expected to lead to private investment of £500m.

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A £79m package for the whole county has already funded the rebuilding of the A338 Bournemouth Spur Road.

Gordon Page, chairman of Dorset LEP, said: “This is the second of the two big Dorset schemes.

“They are the biggest schemes in their potential for jobs and wealth creation.

“The key is to make access into and from Poole and its port as easy as it can be on the current road system,” he said.

“We’re not talking new motorways or anything like that.”

As well as unlocking new jobs and homes, the work should help boost the port of Poole, which is hoping to welcome cruise ships.

LEP director Lorna Carver said: “It’s a pack of developments which will enable growth. There will be some short term disruption but we have minimised it as much as possible. With new development, there will be much better outcomes and investment within Poole.”

Ninety per cent of the £23.3m funding is coming from government and the remainder from the Borough of Poole.

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The road schemes in the package have already been put out to public consultation.

Cllr Drew Mellor, Poole council’s cabinet member covering transport, said: “We’ve had a really thorough consultation and we’ve listened to residents. That’s a key principle of how we want to run this administration.”

And Mr Page said the rest of the county was set to benefit as well. “These aren’t the only two schemes in the Growth Deal. People say the LEP stops at Wimborne or Poole – that’s not true. There should be a flow of good news through the summer,” he added.

Poole Bridge

Poole's original 1927 lifting bridge will be closed from this September until around May.

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Its approach spans– the stretches of road leading to the distinctive green copper towers – will be torn down and replaced.

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Borough of Poole discovered during previous work that the piles beneath the roads were eroding and needed replacement.

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The work will also allow carriageway widening and more space for cyclists and pedestrians.

While the bridge is closed, the Twin Sails Bridge will operate to a different schedule, meaning fewer lifts.

Julian McLaughlin, Poole’s head of transportation services, sought to reassure anyone worried about the Twin Sails’ reliability after its early teething troubles.

“The Twin Sails bridge had some issues initially. These have been overcome,” he said.

“Its reliability is good and has been for many months."

Gravel Hill 

Bournemouth Echo: BUSY ROAD: Gravel Hill and, inset, John Rice

Gravel Hill is set to close entirely for two months as part of six months of work starting this July.

The improvements are part of a £4.3m investment in the A349, the main link road into the port and town centre from the north.

Gravel Hill’s embankments are eroding and could become unsafe. Borough of Poole’s Julian McLaughlin said: “The embankments are moving and if you travel down there you’ll see cracks in the road surface.”

The improvements will include a segregated cycle route, which will mean cyclists can travel all the way from Wimborne to Poole town centre on their own paths.

Town centre access

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There will be £13m spent on improved access to the port from the Poole side.

These will include the redevelopment of the Hunger Hill roundabout – long criticised as one of the town’s most confusing junctions.

The town’s designated regeneration area will be improved, public transport will be boosted and there will be improvements to cycling and pedestrian facilities.

Initial work is to start this month, with the bulk of the project taking place from 2017-18.

Darby's Corner and Dunyeats Junction 

There is £2m for improvements at Darby's Corner, where Gravel Hill meets Dunyeats Road.

The aim is to keep traffic flowing, reduce congestion and ensure more reliable journey times.

The measures will also mean improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, linking with the improvements at Gravel Hill and making it easier for cyclists to go all the way to the town centre.

The Old Power Station 

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The package of improvements is expected to unlock jobs and homes at the former power station site in Hamworthy.

The vast site has been empty since the twin towers of the power station disappeared from the skyline in 1993, but the hoped-for homes on the site have never materialised.

Last year, Gallaghers pulled its application for up to 1,350 homes there, saying the scheme was “unviable”. Efforts to develop the site have been handicapped by the 15,000-tonne concrete cap which still stands on the site.

Poole council is hoping the infrastructure improvements will finally help get plans moving on the town’s biggest regeneration site.

2,500 new homes 

Bournemouth Echo: Twin Sails Bridge

The LEP intends to deliver around 2,500 homes around the port of Poole.

It hopes the infrastructure improvements, and incentives for developers, will kickstart investment by developers.

The area around the Twin Sails bridge at Hamworthy has long been earmarked as ripe for regeneration and the delivery of more housing.

Jobs

Dorset LEP intends for highly skilled jobs to be created from the proposals.

It says the scheme will help make Poole an attractive place for businesses to invest.

Poole’s Local Development Plan includes an objective to deliver more than 20,000sqm of new office space and provide new retail and leisure development.