MOTORISTS are being reminded to allow extra time for their journeys this morning as roadworks start on two major roads.

Work on both the A338 Spur Road and the A35 Upton bypass starts this morning.

There will be one lane closed on the southbound carriageway of the A338 between Ashley Heath Roundabout and Blackwater Junction, while a section of barrier between Hurn Road bridge and the pumping station is extended and part of the verge is landscaped to reduce the gradient.

Starting after the morning rush hour around 9am to 9.30am, the southbound nearside lane will be closed until the evening of Friday, January 20.

On one of the days, work will take place on the northbound carriageway – with a rolling works crew – so that three sites in the verge at the northern end of the road can be landscaped to improve their gradients.

Today also marks the start of 16 weeks of roadworks on the A35 while major bridge protection work is carried out.

During the works the Upton Bypass will be reduced to one lane in each direction.

There will also be a temporary 30mph speed limit on the A35 eastbound - between Baker’s Arms Roundabout and the junction for Upton Country Park – and on the A35 westbound – from the Upton Country Park slip road until after the roadworks area.

The traffic management measures were put in place from 8pm last night (Sunday), with work starting on site at 7am today, according to a Travel Dorset spokesman.

He added: "We will be limiting the length of carriageway that is reduced to one lane for the first three weeks while drivers get used to it before extending it.

"This means when drivers join the A35 from the A350 slip road this section will still be two lanes.

"Working hours will be 7am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 7am to midday on Saturdays - these may not seem like long days, but we have to take into account daylight hours at this time of year and the travel to/from our Gibbs Marsh depot at the start and end of shift."

Travel Dorset have also warned that if there is a very cold spell of weather then the workforce could be called away to fulfil gritting duties.

However efforts have been made to ensure that some work gets done each day.