Protests mounting on A338 alternative route (From Bournemouth Echo)

Protests mounting on A338 alternative route

8:10am Wednesday 18th November 2009

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COUNTY chiefs came under fire again yesterday for causing widespread traffic chaos.

Residents in Ferndown say their traffic problems have been made worse after the council suggested the town’s main road as an alternative for traffic trying to avoid the A338 Spur Road works.

The council suggests motorists take the A31 and then the A347 New Road through Ferndown.

They then have the option to use Parley Lane to the Blackwater Bridge Junction of the Spur Road or continue on Whitelegg Way, onto Castle Lane West and the Cooper Dean roundabout.

Ferndown town councillor Lesley Dedman said: “The traffic is awfully slow at certain times of the day because of the traffic light problems and having those just makes things far, far worse. It is exacerbating the situation.”

“I have had a lot of residents telling me it is far worse that it normally is, they cannot understand why Ferndown has to suffer. The councils seem to think Ferndown has far more capability that it actually does.”

A council spokesman said: “We will not be designating an official diversion route during the major maintenance scheme as the A338 will not be closed, but we will provide suggested alternative routes.

“The suggested routes need to be appropriate for the type of traffic using it, which is why we are suggesting the local A roads via the A31 and not less suitable roads such as Matchams Lane.”

Hundreds of commuters have been stuck in slow-moving traffic on the A31 and A338 since a small section of the southbound carriageway was put into single lanes while workers install barriers to protect six species of reptiles.

The work is also in preparation for a major refurbishment scheme set to begin on that road in autumn 2010.

Dorset County Council said national guidelines say the volume of traffic on the A338 is too high to safely remove and replace the cones during the daytime.

Dorset County Council’s natural environment manager, Phil Sterling, said: “Winter is the best time to achieve this work, when there are no leaves on many of the trees. The clearance will also make rescue of the reptiles much easier next spring, and will prevent birds from nesting in the scrub, which could delay preparations for the carriageway refurbishment. This work is being done during daylight hours because of the use of cutting equipment.”

Beales chief executive Tony Brown said: “These particular lizards have a hibernation period from October to March so why couldn’t they do the work in January? They could stop now. There’s a real snake in the grass and it’s the Highways Agency. We have to get it stopped.”

Click the link below to see a map of the route (opens as PDF).

A338_alternative_routes.pdf

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