MOTORISTS hit by long delays on the southbound A338 Spur Road this week have seen their frustrations mount as Bournemouth Borough Council attempted to address concerns.

The local authority, which is heading up communications for the project while Dorset County Council leads the work with the contractors, has been responding to residents comments on social media.

Despite direct phone calls and communication with the council, transport portfolio holder Cllr Mike Greene has failed to respond to the Daily Echo's requests for an interview.

The council confirmed the lane closure will be removed on Friday evening and return on Sunday night/Monday morning.

The Daily Echo submitted a series of questions to Bournemouth Borough Council and the full responses can be found below.

Why wasn’t this done during the works a couple of years ago on the Spur Road?

This is a very different scheme involving adding a third south bound lane towards Cooper Dean. This lane will allow extra time for traffic merging onto the A338 at Blackwater

Junction. The previous scheme was a maintenance scheme. The previous scheme was north of Blackwater whilst these works head south of Blackwater. If we had undertaken the works at the same time it would have significantly increased the time taken and disruption at the time and the works would not have been completed by the summer.

Why was it not scheduled as night work?

It takes approximately 90 minutes to put the closure on and off, so the working window would have been considerably shortened and would overall extend the length of time the works take. We are also currently undertaking activities which are not safe to be completed at night.

Once the main works start, excavations will be immediately adjacent and in the existing carriageway, and it will not be safe for road users or the workforce to open both lanes until works are competed. For the main works a temporary steel barrier will be installed to protect both the workforce and road users – this takes a long time to install and cannot be removed on a daily basis. At the current time, we are removing closures at weekends. When the barrier is in place this will not be possible.

Are there any plans to amend how the work is carried out after the problems faced this week?

This week we are completing works adjacent to the River Stour Bridge, this means that next week we will be be able to shorten the closures and start them after Blackwater Junction. The proximity of Blackwater to these works prohibited us from doing this straight away – once the widening works start we will however have to take the closure back to its current position. During this time however, the 40mph temporary speed limit will still stand.

Some people say there’s really no need to close the lane at all as the work isn’t being done in the carriageway – is the closure necessary from a safety point of view and why is such a large section of the lane closed off?

Activities are currently taking place in the verge immediately adjacent to the carriageway edge, which will extend into the carriageway once work starts on the bridge. Works are too close to the road to maintain 2 lanes and we will not compromise the safety of our workers.

Are their concerns about the major impact this will have on the business economy of the town?

Detailed and careful consideration has been given to the traffic management but unfortunately it is not possible to keep two lanes open. It is appreciated that the delays do have an adverse impact on the journey times.

Given the conurbation had existing traffic problems, where do the council suggest drivers go to avoid these issues?

The current roadworks are part of the £20 million Bournemouth International Growth programme to improve the A338 and B3073 corridors - aimed at facilitating better access into and around Bournemouth Airport as well as improving journey times and unlocking employment land at Aviation Business Park and at Wessex Fields.

Detailed and careful consideration has been given to the traffic management but unfortunately it is not possible to keep two lanes open.

Drivers will naturally switch to alternative routes that best fit their needs or avoid the busiest times of the day. The works have been programmed to avoid the busy summer period, and started once the air festival was complete. We are in contact with businesses, and directly with the chamber of trade and commerce about working times and they have requested a break before and over Christmas which we are trying to build into the programme.