Hunger Hill junction in Poole to switch to new road layout from Sunday

From 7am on Sunday, Hunger Hill will switch over to a new layout as part of a one-way system put in place on West Quay Road and West Street.

West Quay Road will become one-way travelling away from Poole Bridge and West Street will become one-way travelling towards Poole Bridge. Marston Road, which links the two roads, will become two-way.

Work on the Hunger Hill project started in October as part of the wider £23.3 million investment into improving access into and around the Port of Poole. So far, the work has involved contractors Mildren Construction Limited removing traffic islands, safety fences, and traffic lights and installing new infrastructure.

The traffic flow needs to be changed to the new junction layout for the works to be completed.

The aim of the project is to make Hunger Hill a “more efficient, standard signalised junction”, Poole council says, and make it more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly with several new crossings.

A new public open space will be created behind the Brewhouse & Kitchen pub as part of the project.

The pavements on West Quay Road and West Street will be widened to incorporate a ‘hybrid cycle track’, as well as several new crossings.

Several activities will take place on Sunday as workers prepare to alter the junction and switch the direction of traffic flow on West Quay Road and West Street.

At 3am, traffic will be diverted away from the middle of the Hunger Hill junction onto surrounding roads. This will enable white lines to be removed and new ones to be painted.

Traffic signals will be disconnected, and new ones installed and tested, ready to be switched on at around 7am.

Obsolete road signs will be taken down and new signage installed.

Marston Road will be temporarily closed to enable traffic signals at either end to be commissioned and new white lines painted. It is expected the road will be re-opened at around 8am.

Cones and barriers will be put out to help direct traffic until the permanent new infrastructure is completed.

The council is warning of delays as drivers get used to the new road layout. Motorists are being urged to “drive with care” and use sat navs “with caution” as they may not have been updated with the changes.

Julian McLaughlin, head of growth and infrastructure, said: “This is the next key milestone in this major infrastructure project. Since the work started in October last year, we have been able to keep the traffic moving relatively well considering the scale of the undertaking. We have completed all the work under the existing layout, and it is now necessary to switch the traffic flows to the new junction layout in order to complete the works.”

From Sunday, the entrance to Dear Hay Lane from Hunger Hill will be closed for approximately five weeks. This will enable work to be carried out on the road between Hunger Hill and the Brewhouse Pub. Access to Chapel Lane car park and all other access will be from the southern end of Dear Hay Lane, via New Orchard.

The three-way temporary traffic lights that have been installed at the junction of West Street and New Orchard so that Siemens can carry out preparatory signalling works will be removed on Sunday.

The main works at Hunger Hill are due to be completed in June. Wider works are also taking place on West Street and West Quay Road, involving the completion of the links for pedestrians and cyclists from Hunger Hill to Poole Bridge, together with improvements to public spaces. These works will continue until 2020.