DETAILED plans have been unveiled for months of roadworks set to transform the A338 Spur Road over the next few years.

The scheme by Bournemouth council and Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership will see a new road built connecting the Spur Road to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH) via the proposed Wessex Fields development site to its east, and junction improvements aimed at improving access to the Aviation Business Park at Bournemouth Airport.

The purpose, as part of the Bournemouth International Growth Programme, is to encourage investment in both target development sites.

Work is set to start in the autumn with improvements to Blackwater Junction. It comes just over a year after nine months of work to resurface the Spur Road between Blackwater and Ashley Heath drew to a close.

In spring 2019, phase one of another round of work will create a new slip road. It will leave the A338 southbound to join a new roundabout just south of the Wessex Water Treatment Works, after which point the Spur Road itself will be widened to three lanes. The added lane will merge with the slip road off to the Cooper Dean roundabout.

From the new roundabout a new road will cut through the Wessex Fields development and join with Deansleigh Road just before Bournemouth Crown Court, with that area of road also being reshaped.

As well as providing main road access for Wessex Fields, where the council wants to attract business development, these changes are intended to improve access to the hospital.

Over the past two years crashes in the vicinity have led to gridlock causing problems for visiting patients, staff and most importantly ambulances, and provoking calls for a new access route.

Last year plans were announced by NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group to make RBH the county’s main emergency hospital, with Poole Hospital’s A&E being closed. These proposals have sparked further concerns over the access to the site.

In phase one of the works there would be no change to the Holdenhurst footbridge where, amid some controversy, the council erected illuminated signs saying ‘Welcome to Bournemouth’ and Safe Journey’ in 2013 at a cost of £76,000.

In phase two however the footbridge will be demolished to make way for a new road bridge, and the fate of the sign is unknown.

Phase two will see a third lane constructed on the northbound A338 from Cooper Dean to another new roundabout on the north side.

From this roundabout, just south west of Holdenhurst village, a road will cross the new bridge and join with the phase one roads within Wessex Fields.

At Blackwater Junction the plans will see an extra lane on the B3073 right across the junction, and the slip roads will be reshaped. Also, the scheme describes a “proposed auxilliary merger lane” for the slip road exiting onto the A338 southbound, which currently has a very sharp exit.

Fitting in with the work’s broader theme of boosting business on the outskirts of Bournemouth, alterations at Chapel Gate, Parley Cross and the Hurn roundabout are also described, in less detail.

Link roads cutting out Parley Cross junction to the east and west, an extra lane at Chapel Gate providing better access to the Aviation Business Park from the west, and an expanded Hurn roundabout with two short lanes formed on each approach.

There was significant congestion on the Wessex Way during the last period of major works, a £22 million Dorset County Council resurfacing programme which began in September 2015. This saw regular lane closures and a 40mph average speed limit imposed, which led to thousands of penalty charge notices being issued to unaware or reckless motorists.

Measures to control traffic during the new set of works have yet to be revealed.

The inclusion of the Aviation Business Park, which is in Hurn and part of Christchurch, in the Bournemouth International Growth Programme may lead to some further friction between the boroughs in light of the ongoing local government reorganisation process.

Christchurch council rejected plans to merge with Bournemouth and Poole, with some members citing their concerns that the former would use the opportunity to expand housing development into green belt areas.

A final decision on forming the unitary will be made by the Secretary of State.

Exhibitions with details on the plans, running from 2-8pm with council officers on hand from 4-7pm, continue today and tomorrow at the Village Hotel in Deansleigh Road, Bournemouth, on March 14-15 at Hurn Sports Club on the Avon Causeway, and on March 22 at Holdenhurst Village Hall.

Cllr Mike Greene, Cabinet Member for Transport at Bournemouth Borough Council, said: “This investment we have secured for our local infrastructure will deliver major benefits for Bournemouth and the surrounding area by creating jobs and driving economic growth in the coming years. We hope that as many people as possible take this opportunity to come and see the plans at one of the public exhibitions, and let us know what they think.”

FACTFILE

Wessex Fields

• Planning application for the Full Junction will be submitted in late Summer 2017

• Funding is only available for the Half Junction (Phase 1)

• Full Junction (Phase 2) requires further funding to be secured

• Phase 1 will enable 500 jobs on Wessex Fields and Phase 2 will release a further 1,500 (2,000 in total for the Full Junction)

• Construction of the Half Junction will commence in Spring 2019 and the works will be complete by Spring 2021 at the latest