A MAIN road in Bournemouth town centre will be closed to traffic for a fortnight from Monday, affecting thousands of beleaguered motorists.

Holdenhurst Road, one of the busiest routes across town, is being shut to enable utility connection work to take place at one of the district’s many new builds.

Drivers have been warned by BCP Council to allow extra time for journeys.

Diversions will be in place at the Asda roundabout and the Lansdowne roundabout.

The works are linked to a building under construction, close to Telecom House, by Watkins Jones Group PLC.

A BCP Council spokesman told the Echo: “They are putting a sewer connection in, which is a three-metre deep pipe. They’ve also arranged to get the gas fitted at the same time.”

Also, on the final weekend, one of the large tower cranes currently on site will be taken down and removed along Holdenhurst Road.

The BCP Council spokesman said: “They’ve effectively managed to squeeze three jobs in the same road closure.”

This Holdenhurst Road closure is scheduled for November 11 to November 25.

The work is listed on Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch (BCP) Council’s online road traffic portal as a ‘road closure for utility works and parking restrictions during works for a new permanent access’.

Holdenhurst Road was closed to traffic on a number of occasions last year, for the popular Metropole street markets.

Watkins Jones Group were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Earlier this autumn BCP Council revealed multi-million plans for the possible pedestrianisation of the Lansdowne area. Under those proposals set for discussion, Holdenhurst Road and Lansdowne Roundabout were “potential areas that could be the focus for major investment”. According to BCP Council, £150million investment is already under way at Lansdowne – and additional £8.5m government funding has been secured via the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund. New areas such as outdoor meeting spaces, student break out areas and performance platforms for festivals all featured as part of the pedestrianisation plans.