WORK to transform a busy roundabout by Bournemouth Airport is on schedule, according to Dorset County Council.

The £1.5million road widening, resurfacing and installation of cycle lanes and crossings at the Chapel Gate Roundabout is part of the Bournemouth International Growth (BIG) Programme and intended complement the planned expansion of the nearby Aviation Business Park.

In a statement the county, one of the parties to the scheme alongside Bournemouth council and the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership, said resurfacing work to conclude the works is due to begin in November.

"Things have progressed well over the summer and we’ve finished the road widening and new cycleway/footway on the southwest corner of Chapel Gate Roundabout," the statement said.

"We’ve also finished our work improving the existing drainage and digging new drainage channels in this area – we know these look quite bleak at the moment but once grass grows to cover them they’ll blend in much more.

"Also, just to let you know, the road surface in this area is temporary as the whole area will be resurfaced at the end of the scheme in November.

"While we wait for SSE to divert cables to the north of the roundabout, we’re working in Chapel Gate (the business park access road) building the cycleway/footpath and widening the road."

The statement also warns of continuing traffic delays with the use of temporary traffic signals to direct vehicles past the works in off-peak times.

The £45m BIG Programme is intended to boost business investment around both Bournemouth Airport and the Wessex Fields site by Royal Bournemouth Hospital, with changes also made to junctions at Blackwater and Parley.

At Chapel Gate, the work is now in the second phase which will see a new approach lane to the Aviation Business Park created on the north side.

Later, lanes approaching from the business park will be widened, and new 'islands' created between them.

Complementary work at Blackwater East Junction started this month and runs until June next year.