DRIVERS are facing 10 months of disruption as engineers work on Canford Bottom roundabout.

The Highways Agency has announced the £2.6million project, due for completion in time for the Olympic events in Weymouth next July, will start in early September.

The work will involve up to three months of overnight closures and a 30mph ‘go slow’ zone which will be enforced one kilometre up the A31 on either side of the current bottleneck.

Both Wimborne Road West junctions, Ham Lane and Canford Bottom will all be closed at the roundabout, and drivers travelling west on the A31 will not be able to turn into Uddens Drive.

Overnight work will see the A31 shut down between Merley roundabout and Canford Bottom roundabout, and also between Palmersford roundabout near Trickett’s Cross and Canford Bottom.

Uddens Drive, Forest Link Road, Cobham Road, Station Road and West Moor Road junctions will also be affected.

A Highways Agency spokesman said the 96 overnight hold-ups were unlikely to be consecutive.

Seventy traffic lights will be installed under the scheme, which will see the A31 widened to two lanes on approaches and exits to the roundabout.

Walkers and cyclists on Wimborne Road West will be able to use a toucan crossing to safely get from one side of the A31 to the other.

The changes will shave minutes off travelling times, the agency says.

A spokesman said: “The scheme aims to improve the operation of the Canford Bottom roundabout by improving safety and reducing congestion at this location, both from traffic on the A31 and from local roads.”

More than 230 people took part in a public consultation on the plans.

This feedback will be published online from July 1.