WITH the multi-million-pound A31 redevelopment some three months from completion, the man at the helm has answered some burning questions.
Once finished, the £30m A31 scheme will see a third lane added to the westbound carriageway providing additional capacity and safer access points from Ringwood.
The last of the 45-metre beams for the new westbound bridge were installed on Wednesday night and attention will now turn to constructing the new bridge and finishing the third lane.
National Highways’ A31 project manager Daniel Kittredge told the Echo that work is “well on track” to be completed by the end of November and fielded questions posed by residents.
Some residents have criticised the project for its 11-month length, stating things like “the Americans would have had that finished in less than a week”. However, Daniel outlined several parameters people may not be aware of which necessitates a longer project timeframe.
He said: “There’s a number of things that can be said in response to that but firstly, these are incredibly complex structures that we are replacing. We do also have a number of environmental constraints that we need to adhere to because the River Avon is a site of special scientific interest.
“Also, there are constraints imposed on us by the planning authority regarding how we can work. For example, a lot of people say about 24 hour working. We are working so close to residents so imagine if you were one of the neighbours, would you want that sort of construction activity happening 24/7? The answer is no, so we must be considerate of them and abiding by the environmental constraints placed upon us.
“I think what people do forget is that the people delivering this project are just that, people – not robots.
“In recent times we’ve had a lot of questions on why we are not doing this work in the winter period because of high tourism levels in the summer. The answer to that is again the environmental constraints.
“For example, the River Avon is home to Atlantic salmon and they use it as a migratory route to their spawning grounds. They are a protected species under European legislation so we have to abide by those laws. We totally understand why people do ask those questions, but we are constrained by legislation as is everybody.”
National Highways crews have also worked through bank holidays, including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, in order to remain on schedule. Additionally, the work force has had to contend with live traffic from the adjacent eastbound carriageway.
Daniel said: “What’s obvious with this project is that we’re working in a live environment. We’ve been using a process called enhanced mobile carriageway closures so for very short periods of the day which allow us to complete construction activities. We find things return to normal within 20 minutes so if you compare that to a full closure, a minor off-peak interruption is hugely preferable.”
When asked about heavy traffic caused by the works, Daniel highlighted how this is a “knock-on effect” of any major road project – however said most long delays are caused by non-work related incidents.
He said: “What we are finding is most of the issues are generally caused by road traffic collisions which are out of our control. But we do have 24/7 recovery for any incident in and around the project.
“We are finding that collisions and other things stopping the general flow of traffic are having bigger impacts than the roadworks themselves.”
Whatever the feelings on the project, residents seem in general agreement the end result will aid traffic flow in and out of Ringwood. For example, the old slip roads off the B3347 Mansfield Road and West Street onto the A31 westbound had long been regarded as dangerous.
Daniel concluded: “The overarching benefit of the project is the journey time reliability. That journey from Southampton to the Ashley Heath roundabout and Bournemouth, which is a notorious delay spot, will improve massively.
“The team on site are working exceptionally hard to meet our November deadline. They’re a very committed, competent and driven team of people and by the time we finish I really hope you will see the benefits of the work that has gone on.”
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