A busy road between Blandford and Sturminster Newton will be closing for four weeks while a causeway is rebuilt.
From Saturday 22 June until Sunday 21 July the A357 at Durweston will be closed, with drivers directed to use the diversion route on the A350 to access the village.
The closure is needed because the flood arches on the eastern side of the village – and the road over them – will be demolished so new culvert units can be installed.
Dorset Highways has been working alongside the A357 at Durweston since mid-March preparing for the replacement of the flood arch structures.
Recent inspections identified that the flood arches are deteriorating at an increasing rate and should be replaced to improve the safety of road-users. The current brick arches will be replaced with around 30 pre-cast concrete units, each weighing 13 tonnes, which together will form the three new flood culverts.
Deterioration of the embankment slopes is also beginning to undermine the highway. These slopes will be re-graded during the project – with the footprint of the embankments widened and slope of the embankments slackened – to provide appropriate support for the road.
Councillor Ray Bryan, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “Our essential maintenance to replace these flood arches and redesign the road embankments will improve the safety of this section of the A357, as well as lowering our ongoing maintenance costs.
“We know the inconvenience road closures cause. All too often drivers decide they know best and ignore road closure signs to travel through our works area.
“Please do not attempt to use the A357 to the east of Durweston village – there will be three, deep gaps across the width of the road.”
The new precast reinforced concrete culvert units will be installed in the same position and on the same alignment as the existing arches. The height of the road and adjacent land will not change, but the footprint of the new structures will be wider than the existing ones so that new verges can be provided.
The embankment slopes will be re-vegetated with grass and the newly created verges will sown with a native grass/wildflower mix.
The half-a-million-pound scheme will be completed, with the compounds dismantled and access tracks removed, in September 2019.
The works do not include any improvements to Durweston Bridge.
Cllr Bryan added: “Unfortunately, we don’t currently have any plans to replace or improve Durweston Bridge.
“Land limitations in the area means that replacing the bridge, and widening or realigning the road onto any new bridge, would cost a significant amount of money. Improving the existing bridge is also very difficult as it’s a listed structure, which ties our hands in what we are able to do with it.”
Diversion route
The signed diversion will be for drivers to use the A350 as this is the same ‘A’ classification as the road being closed.
Local drivers may wish to choose an alternative, more direct route appropriate to their vehicle.
You are spending money on the new culvets which is good but Durweston Bridge has been hit so many times one day there will be no bridge. This road is a major A road with big lorries going back and forth and one day there could be serious accident and then what you going to do. It’s bad enough shutting the bridge now, but living in shillingstone this route is important for me and going all around the houses is very costly indeed for all.
Maybe there should be a weight restriction and send all lorries via shaftesbury, unless the are heading west.
would help if we knew where your diversion is going to be? to explain to visitors, and alert them to the difficulties………Dorset Lavender Farm Project Open Day is June 30th…….in Fiddleford……which direction will be best for our visitors?
Hi J L O’Connell, the signed diversion route is for drivers to use the A350 while this bottom section of the A357 is closed, then get on to the A357 at Child Okeford. Depending on where your visitors are coming from they may choose to use alternative local routes.
Unfortunately, any drivers coming from the south or east will have a longer journey than usual.
I sat at the top of my drive for 10 minutes two days ago waiting to get out into the traffic caused by the temporary lights in order to access my employment at Bryanston School. During that time 17 40′ lorries of various types came down from Sturminster Newton, presumably heading for the port at Poole.
Are you assuming that Childe Okeford will be able to cope with these? Are you assuming that more of this awful traffic will find its way past Durweston Primary School and through the private grounds at Bryanston, where 700 children cross the drive every day? Up Milton Lane???
Very little thought seems to have been given to the management of traffic during this work!
Hi Sarah, yes – the temporary traffic signals are not as efficient as the permanent ones. We’re manually controlling them during the busy periods but, as the signal on the A357 is now further away from the junction, there is more ‘red’ time on the A350 to allow traffic to clear through the junction.
Our signed diversion route for traffic has to be on the same ‘A’ classification of road so will direct drivers to use the A350 to Shaftesbury, A30 to Henstridge and A357 back down to Durweston.
Residents may choose to find an alternative local route, as this is so long due to there being no other ‘A’ roads in the area. However, we are not suggesting drivers use private roads.
We have put a lot of thought into these essential works and we have worked with the Durweston community to keep them informed.
It’s not an easy task to replace these flood arches, and there certainly isn’t a magic wand to do it without demolishing the road, and the only way to remove the arches is with a road closure in place.
At a number of points on the diversion route there are warnings that there are “long delays” if you go via Child Okeford. This is just nonsense and using these sort of scare tactics only means people won’t trust the signs next time
Hi Jeremy, thank you for your comments, I’ll pass them on to the project team.