THE latest phase of ongoing roadworks at Christchurch's Blackwater Junction, which includes a new contraflow system heading north along the A338, will start next week.

There will also be a series of overnight closures up until March 10.

When work on this latest stage is finished a new sliproad will take motorists from Hurn on to the A338 towards Ringwood.

From March 3 drivers heading northbound from Bournemouth will have to ensure they are in the correct lane if they want to make the Hurn turn off, otherwise they will be forced to drive all the way up to Ashley Heath to turn around.

Bournemouth Echo:

While the new northbound contraflow system is put in place, the southbound on slip – which enables traffic from Hurn and Christchurch join the A338 towards Bournemouth – will be lengthened.

Project manager Ian Price said: "Currently, we have a lot more (southbound) traffic coming on at Blackwater compared with going off, so with the improved slip merger we should end up with better traffic conditions."

Mr Price also confirmed the project remains "on programme" overall.

When the latest phase starts, which is expected to last until June, drivers will effectively be facing the same traffic management they did during phase one of the junction improvements, with two lanes northbound on the A338 and one lane southbound.

"Any northbound vehicle wanting to come off at Blackwater will need to get into lane one," said Mr Price.

Drivers have been advised to plan ahead, and full signage will be in place for northbound traffic.

The southbound lanes have been closed, 8pm-6am, each night since Monday, for temporary surfacing works.

From Friday, March 1, until Sunday, March 3, both the southbound and northbound lanes will be closed overnight to change the traffic management layout and install a contraflow which will be operational from the morning of Sunday, March 3.

A further week of overnight southbound lane closures will be in place from Monday, March 4 to complete the temporary surfacing works.

Bournemouth Echo:

To see a larger version of a document on the widening scheme see 19-02-26 media.pptx.pdf

Larry Austin, Service Director, Environment at Bournemouth Borough Council, said: “We’ve now reached the stage where we’re starting works to widen the northbound carriageway to provide an improved off slip to the Blackwater West junction. To enable us to lengthen the slip road, the carriageway needs to be widened in both the verge and central reservation. We’ll also be reinforcing the Blackwater Bridge piers and mirroring the concrete barrier works carried out around the southbound side of the bridge.

Bournemouth Echo:

“So that we can maintain two lanes of traffic northbound, a contraflow has been installed on the southbound carriageway with a dedicated northbound lane and a single southbound lane. To ease traffic merging on the Blackwater on-slip, we can extend the merge lane over the Stour and have a longer lead-in to the lane closure southbound. This arrangement will remain in place until we near the end of the works in June 2019.

“We would encourage drivers to plan ahead, continue to allow extra time for their journeys especially during peak periods and play close attention to the signage.”

These improvements form part of the £45.2million investment in Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership’s Bournemouth International Growth (BIG) Programme, aimed at facilitating better access into and around Bournemouth Airport, unlocking employment land and stimulating economic growth.