IT could be just days until the Spur Road reopens following nine months of gruelling works.

The contraflow has been taken out of the roadworks, with one lane running in each direction - although cones separating the lanes on the approach to the Blackwater junction caused long delays for drivers this morning.

The £22 million project has seen the entire length of the Spur Road rebuilt to create a new quiet carriageway, from the Ashley Heath interchange to Blackwater Junction, as part of a major initiative to improve transport links across the conurbation.

Dorset County Council has overseen the project after funding was obtained by the Local Enterprise Partnership. Contractors Hanson have been carrying out the work.

It has taken more than 11,000 man days, 64,000 cones, signs, and reflectors, and more than 35,000 tonnes of new road surface to create the road.

On top of that 100 per cent of the old road has been ripped up and recycled at the Tarmac quarry site, before being broken down and used as the foundation layer for the new surface - more than 70,000 tonnes of it.

This week will see overnight closures - since Sunday there has been a single lane running in each direction.

The white lines will be put down, landscaping works done, and traffic management signs taken down.

There will also be temporary two-way lights in Hurn Road, at the top of Matchams Lane, just before Hurn Road Bridge. The lights will be up from 9.30am-3.30pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday while anti-dazzle fencing is installed.

There will also be patching work in Wattons Lane from 9am-4pm today with stop-go boards in use.

Andrew Cattaway, chairman of Dorset County Council, said: “I think the first thing is we’ve completed it within budget and on time and it’s a very good outcome.

"We recognise that working directly with the LEP is the key way forward and we do everything we can to support the LEP and they support us in every project that we run.”

Ian Price, project manager for Hanson, added: “Everyone has worked really well and pulled together.

"It was a tight programme, with an awful lot of people working, but it’s gone very well.”