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Council's Spur Road Christmas gift to drivers (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Council's Spur Road Christmas gift to drivers
8:30am Saturday 28th November 2009
THE roadworks which have been bringing Bournemouth’s Spur Road to a standstill will be suspended for three weeks in an early Christmas gift to the town.
Dorset County Council revealed last night that it would be lifting the lane restrictions on the A338 from December 11 until January 6 after talks with business and the tourism industry.
The news was immediately welcomed by traders, who have seen business hit as drivers seek to avoid the roadworks.
Boscombe traders’ chairman Steve Kent called the announcement “absolutely brilliant”.
He said traders had met with Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole councils earlier in the week to voice their frustration at the rash of roadworks in the area.
“They seem to be digging up every road they can dig up at the moment. I don’t think there’s one road in Bournemouth they haven’t started on,” he said.
“This would do everybody a big favour.”
He pointed out that the roadworks would have been suspended over Christmas anyway, with contractors downing tools for up to two weeks.
“They’re not giving a lot away – maybe a week and a half – but anything counts at the moment,” he added.
Some businesses in Boscombe had seen an 18-20 per cent drop in trade in the wake of the A338 works and the closure of the Ashley Road railway bridge, he said.
The start of the A338 work brought lengthy delays along the Spur Road, which eased after the council changed the programme of works.
The work is the precursor to a six-month, £26 million refurbishment of the Spur Road starting next autumn.
Dorset County Council says work is progressing well, with vegetation and trees cleared from drainage systems so flooding problems can be resolved. Surveys are being carried out to help settle the design of the main scheme.
It says preparations are still on course to be finished by the end of February 2010.
Tony Brown, chief executive of Beales in Bournemouth, had previously called for the roadworks to be put off until after Christmas.
But the county council had said it was restricted by legislation protecting the reptiles along the route. This meant the creatures had to be moved out of harm’s way while they were hibernating.
Mr Brown said last night he was “delighted with the fruitful and constructive talks” held with the council’s project manager, David Diaz.
He said the authority seemed “genuinely willing to work with local businesses, especially during the major disruption scheduled for next September”.
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Your Say YourEcho
poole_god, says...
10:20am Sat 28 Nov 09
idontknowifitistrue, in the wilds says...
11:14am Sat 28 Nov 09
Oh, I forgot 'Elf n Safty', the workmen would have to walk a little way, might muddy their pristine footwear.
pete0404, boscombe says...
11:39am Sat 28 Nov 09
thats cause its boscombe
with the serf reef , drunks , drugies & beggers
fedupwithjobsworths, Moordown says...
12:16pm Sat 28 Nov 09
armchair-apathist, Bournemouth says...
2:05pm Sat 28 Nov 09
Bloss45, Bournemouth says...
4:07pm Sat 28 Nov 09
be_serious, Bournemouth says...
4:54pm Sat 28 Nov 09
@poole_god - maybe you should try running a business yourself and see what trade you can accomplish when you rely on local transit systems to be efficient in getting the public to your shop! small business is feeling the pinch and things like this around the busiest shopping period of the year can cause great financial strain! These are people with families and homes to sustain as well as their livelihood! have a bit of compassion!
@pete0404 - maybe you should look at your education before attacking others - your grammar and spelling leave a lot to be desired!
airforce1, aldershot says...
7:57pm Sat 28 Nov 09
[Chris], WWW says...
4:24pm Sun 29 Nov 09
fedupwithjobsworths wrote:Wrong.....Read the story, the DCC had already decided to stop work, all they have done is added on a few days to stop the whingers. Obviously the road has been operating alright for the past 3 or 4 days, because there has been no one complaining of delays, or stories to hype the matter even further.
Complainers 1, lizard and Jobsworth huggers 0.
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When one considers that the A338 was built to carry the extra traffic to the town and area, as more traffic was expected on our roads, what did we do before hand, before the A338.
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The only good thing to come out of this is, who would want to shop in Boscombe anyway. Mr. Kent, do take a look at the place, come on now. Before blaming access to and from the town, try sorting the town out first.
fedupwithjobsworths, Moordown says...
11:07am Mon 30 Nov 09
The road has been running smoothly over the last few days because the cones have been removed up to the Blackwater Junction.
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Before the A338 was built there were only about half the cars on the road!
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First of all they told us that this work was necessary to relocate hibernating lizards (although the lizards could still be seen awake – remember also that hibernating sand lizards would have to be dug out of their burrows!). We were then told that this work could not be postponed to after Christmas (yet January and February are the coldest months of the year when the lizards would be in hibernation), now they are postponing it.
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I suspect that the legislation DCC is hiding behind to justify this preparation work states that all reasonable steps be taken to protect the habitat of these reptiles – gridlocking the Town and disrupting emergency services is not reasonable.
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It is clear to me that you cannot believe anything DCC says.
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In Cumbria the Royal Engineers are working 24/7 (whatever the weather) to replace a bridge destroyed by floods. What a pity they could not be engaged to resurface the A338, it would be done in a fraction of the time, at half the cost and with a fraction of the disruption.
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We have a right to complain when Councils act incompetently
Roadworks suspended over Christmas break
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rook, wimborne says...
9:22am Sat 28 Nov 09
Sorry, but apart from the general state of the area, there are no shops there which are any different (in a good way, I mean) than you find in Bournemouth, Poole, or Castle Point. I agree it does have some small 'niche' shops, but the area really needs to make up its mind what it wants to be.
Let's hope things are done which will improve the area for everyone, and if suspending the road works really does help, then hopefully the local businesses there can get at least some extra Xmas trade.