WORK to resurface Longfleet Road in Poole is due to start on Monday.

The work, from Elizabeth Road to the Shah signal junction, is scheduled to take place until Saturday, October 21. During this time the footpath will also be resurfaced, including a new shared pedestrian and cycle path from Fernside Road to Green Park.

To help traffic flow, one lane will remain open to vehicles at all times. However, from 7pm on Monday to 6am on Tuesday, vehicles will not be able to travel westwards towards the town centre from the Poole General Hospital emergency access ramp to Elizabeth Road. The road will operate as normal during the day.

From 7am on Tuesday until 4pm on Saturday, vehicles will not be able to travel eastwards from Elizabeth Road towards the Shah signal junction so that the rest of the road can be resurfaced.

Mobile variable message signs (VMS) will be used throughout the works to keep road users up to date.

Emergency access to Poole General Hospital will be maintained throughout the works. Access to the maternity hospital via Shaftesbury Road will also remain available.

The entrance to the multi-storey car park on Longfleet Road will be closed, but the hospital will provide an alternative entrance during this time. Pedestrian access will continue to be provided.

John Rice, engineering manager, Borough of Poole, said: “Longfleet Road is a very busy road. The work has been planned to start after the current SGN works on Mount Pleasant Road have been completed. We’ve also liaised closely with the hospital, South West Ambulance Service and the bus operators to minimise disruption to road users, residents and patients.

“We have decided to restrict night time working and not carry out 24-hour working as this would cause unacceptable disturbance to local residents and hospital patients.

“We recognise that this essential work will cause some unavoidable disruption to road users and would ask motorists to allow extra time for their journeys.”

Cllr Ian Potter, cabinet portfolio holder for planning, regeneration and transportation, added: “In our most recent Shaping Poole survey residents identified road and pavement repairs as the highest priority in the list of things that most need improving in the local area.

“We are committed to achieving this, and the works on Longfleet Road form part of a wider resurfacing programme. I would like to thank drivers in advance for their patience while these improvement works are carried out.”

The resurfacing programme will also see improvements to Sandbanks Road, Blandford Road, Queen Anne Drive, Magna Road, Alder Road, Wimborne Road and Ringwood Road between now and April 2018.