CIVIC chiefs have revealed which roads could benefit from a £100 million cash injection from central government, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Bournemouth and Poole councils in partnership with Dorset County Council have revealed which projects they would like to see upgraded as part of Major Roads Network consultation.

The plan put forward by the Department for Transport, proposes that 5,000 miles of A-roads are brought into scope for new funding from the National Roads Fund for upgrades and improvements.

Upgrade schemes which could be considered are bypasses, missing links between existing routes, road widening, major junction improvements and the use of technological and safety enhancements along stretches of the network.

Under the proposals, road upgrades will be developed by councils for these particular routes and, where possible, sub-national transport bodies – a regional body that influences funding decisions such as Transport for the North.

The strategy is being developed to address traffic congestion issues and support the future housing and regeneration plans for towns and cities across the country including in Dorset.

It is planned that a review of the MRN will mirror the planned investment in the strategic road network which includes motorways and large A roads managed by Highways England.

The councils have identified that the top priority projects include the A31 (Poole link road) which Borough of Poole says would reduce traffic on the A348 and A349 and provide a high-quality link to accelerate the growth of Port of Poole and regeneration of Poole town centre where 6000 new homes and 1,000 new jobs are planned.

Alongside this, the whole of the A350 corridor from Poole through Dorset to the county boundary and beyond through Wiltshire was also identified.

Dorset County Council said that this was a vital north/south route linking the Port of Poole and the wider Dorset conurbation with the M4 corridor.

The project was originally mentioned in the South of England North-South Connectivity Prospectus, created by Bath and North East Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset and Poole councils, together with local enterprise partnerships which lays out the economic needs for improved links by road.

Cllr Daryl Turner, Dorset County Council’s cabinet member for natural and built environment, said: “Dorset’s economy has been artificially suppressed due to wholly inadequate transport links to our ports and markets, particularly from the north.

“Improved links offer a huge potential for growth throughout the region. The government already acknowledges that an improved connection between the M4 and the South Coast is desperately needed; the time has come for them to commit to making it happen.”

Alongside this, projects also include

  • A35 Poole to Bournemouth to Christchurch to Hants boundary

  • A347 Bournemouth (at A3060) to Ferndown at A31 (key route includes river crossing)

  • B3073 Wimborne to Bournemouth Airport to Christchurch

  • A3060 Bournemouth (A347 to A338)

  • A3060 Bournemouth (A338 to A35)

  • A338 Bournemouth (A3049 to A35)

  • B3059 Bournemouth (A35 to Southbourne (River Crossing)

  • A35 Poole (A338 to A350)

This comes at the same time as the Department for Transport proposals on the A338 between Ringwood and Bournemouth; the A347/A348 between Palmersford Roundabout and Mountbatten Roundabout; the A3049 between Springbourne Roundabout and Fleetsbridge Roundabout; the A349/A341 between Merley Roundabout and Fleetsbridge Roundabout (including Broadstone Way); the A350/A35 Upton Bypass, and the A35 between Bere Regis and Bakers Arms roundabout.

Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset, said: "Now is the time to be investing in our sub-regional infrastructure.

"This is what we have been working towards and it has certainly been on the local political radar."

Transport secretary Chris Grayling said: “For decades, these major local roads have been underfunded and not properly maintained.

“We are spending record amounts on improving our roads and we want more of our busiest roads to benefit from guaranteed investment.

“This will unlock no end of benefits for communities by improving motorists’ journeys, taking traffic away from built-up areas, as well as enabling new housing to be built and creating jobs.”

Ian Girling, chief executive of the Dorset Chamber of Commerce, said: “Traffic congestion and the transport infrastructure is an issue that is a constant concern for businesses across Dorset – and the whole south-west.

“Ongoing investment and planning in transport and the road network is an essential platform for economic growth in Dorset."

Lorna Carver, director of Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership, said: "We welcome government’s recognition of the need to rebalance funding across the regions which we hope will address the particular issue of funding for roads within Dorset and the wider South West region.

"We endorse the response from the Dorset local highway authorities and in particular the proposed additional MRN links that have been identified, the comments on the criteria for the definition of the MRN and the financial thresholds for enhancement schemes.

"We are ready to do our part, with the local transport authorities, in creating the regional evidence base which will help the development of a prioritised programme and will support the business case for project proposals, all of which should have a major impact on our productivity."

The Daily Echo plans a week of features on the area's congestion problems, starting next Monday.