THERE has been traffic chaos in West Parley with road works causing long delays expected to last for weeks.

Residents have hit out over the amount of work saying it is a ‘total nightmare’ to commute through.

Planned works were set to take place on New Road in West Parley and Wimborne Road West, Ferndown, however, emergency repair works on the gas network have caused further disruption.

Dorset Council has installed temporary traffic lights on New Road for resurfacing and closed Wimborne Road West completely for the Transforming Cities Cycle Improvement scheme.

West Parley ward councillor, Andrew Parry, said that the SGN emergency repairs should have only lasted for a few days, however, after an investigation a complex and large-scale infrastructure was required.

He added that this has caused a ‘knock-on effect’ and has forced more traffic in residential areas.

“This is one cause for concern because, in some of those cases where drivers are becoming frustrated at their detours, there is concern that they may be exceeding speed limits and causing potential risks to my residents.”

Local man Matt Harrison said the works are causing ‘total road chaos’ and that the delays are ‘horrendous’.

“I have never known such chaos, and whilst I appreciate there are some works that need to be done there seems to be no coordinated structure to this,” he said.

“Far too many areas are left unattended for days on end, such as the A31 near St Leonards, large areas of road network coned off for no obvious reason and no signage to explain as to why.”

Morebus has also criticised the works, saying the traffic and delays have been disrupting its bus network.

Richard Wade, general manager, said: “We are very sorry that our 13 service has experienced reliability issues of late, as there have been various interferences with the highway.”

He added: “We understand that Dorset Council has a difficult job to coordinate these works, particularly when unplanned works are added. “Unfortunately there are simply too may private car journeys taking place for the available road network.

“We are putting as many additional resources into the route as we have available, and we are actually spending more to provide the best possible service we can. This makes it especially disappointing for all concerned when the service does not meet the standards we set out to achieve.

“I’d like to thank our passengers for empathising with our drivers, and for their patience and understanding during this challenging period.”

A spokesperson for SGN said engineers are replacing a section of the network on Christchurch Road and works are set to last until the end of November.

A Dorset Council spokesperson added that where possible, the New Road works are being lifted early each day to help ease traffic at peak times.

“This is all, understandably, frustrating, but we are working with developers, contractors and utility companies to complete the works as quickly as possible,” they said.