HIGHWAYS bosses will meet today to look at the early impact of the Bournemouth Spur Road works.

The arterial route has been down to one lane in both directions between Blackwater and Ashley Heath as a £22 million project to rebuild it gets under way.

Funded by the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the rebuild is part of the Bournemouth Airport Growth Programme, which aims to unlock the potential of the Hurn site.

The LEP says that will see a £52 million private sector investment into the economy, create 3,500 jobs by 2021 – with another 10,000 predicted by 2028 – and 200 houses built by 2021, with another possible 350 by 2028.

But the early stages of the work have led to heavy traffic congestion – both on the A338 and alternative routes around the conurbation – during rush hour.

Speaking to the Daily Echo as work began on the huge compound next to the southbound carriageway of the Spur Road, which will be the hub of the complex operation, Ian Price, project manager for contractors Hanson, said: “We have two weeks of preliminary work now before we have the contraflow from September 21.

“We’ve started building the compound, which will be used for recycling 90,000 tonnes of material.”

The site will see material brought up from the old road recycled before being used as part of the new carriageway.

Workers are also currently removing crash barriers ready for the crossover points when the contraflow comes into force, as well as other work like clearing vegetation.

Cllr Peter Finney, Dorset County Council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “It’s an exciting time for us at the moment, because it’s nine months of planning coming to fruition.”

Cllr Finney said that the A338 was more than 40 years old and was “in vital need of reconstruction”.

Work will bring it up to modern dual carriageway standards – improving drainage, upgrading the central barrier and adding an extra hard strip to give space for cars to move over for emergency vehicles or in case of breakdowns.

Speaking about the first two days of single-lane operation in both directions, Cllr Finney told the Echo: “What we expected to happen was there would be heavy delays to start with and that people would try to use rat-runs and that puts pressure on other routes.”

He said that there would be a meeting today to look at how the traffic management was working.

“What we will be looking at is what the impact has been and adjust our plans as necessary,” added Cllr Finney.

Gordon Page, chairman of the LEP, said: “The A338 renewal will help achieve enhanced access to employment sites, allow more jobs to be created, support better housing and enable the improvement and sustainability of our local economy.”