As part of the continuing multi-million-pound transport overhaul in Gillingham work will soon be starting in Station Road and demolition of The Old Manse will also get underway.
In the latest progress of the scheme, Dorset Council has completed the purchase of The Old Manse at the junction of Shaftesbury Road and New Road, which will allow the widening of the busy junction to increase its capacity.
Work will initially take place this month to secure the site and prepare the property for demolition, which is due start in September. The demolition of the building will take around four weeks and will be followed by the junction improvement work, which is scheduled to start in early October. Temporary traffic signals will be in place during the demolition and junction improvement work.
Four weeks work will also get underway on Station Road (higher) from 1 September, with the pavements being widened to improve the pedestrian environment. There will also be some minor works on Station Road (lower) to improve pedestrian access to and from the train station.
Work will start at the top of Station Road and move south towards the train station. Different traffic management measures will be needed as the work progresses, including a two-week road closure from the High Street to Paris Court and some parking restrictions.
The permanent one-way southbound restriction on Station Road (higher), from the High Street to Buckingham Road, will come into place on Friday 11 September.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “From the end of August and through the Autumn, as these next phases of work begin to take shape, residents will start to see how the overall package of improvements will reshape transport around the town.
“The greener travel choice of cycling will become a real option for those who maybe hadn’t considered it before along this busy route.
“We appreciate that there is a lot of highway work taking place in a concentrated area of the town, thank you for your patience so far.”
Pedestrian and cycle safety works started on 3 August at the Newbury (High Street) junction with Shaftesbury Road, which includes installing a toucan crossing on Le Neubourg Way, and lane closures are being used to provide a safe working area.
As part of the work, Newbury will be closed between the mini-roundabout and the Doctors surgery from 9am to 3pm on Monday 17, Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 August to remove the existing kerbs and ramp. Vehicles will be directed onto Station Road to access the town.
Sustainable transport works along Le Neubourg Way are now finished and the road will be resurfaced during night work from 19 August to 2 September, with the road closed each weeknight from 7pm to 6am (access to Waitrose and the petrol station will be maintained during this work).
New traffic signals at the Waitrose Junction will ‘go live’ in mid-September.
The works are part of a multi-million-pound transport overhaul, with funding secured by the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership through the Government’s Growth Deal, to provide a transport improvement package for the town to support its expansion.
The funding is being used to enhance key junctions through Gillingham, improve cycle links to the train station and will fund the design of the Enmore Green Link Road.
Never should have allowed any access to supermarkets on the bypass, as it was intended to bypass the busy High Street, and the shops, hence the name bypass…
No body with more than two braincells to rub together could possibly think another set of traffic lights at Waitrose on an already heavily conjested road a good idea. You only have to look at the problems caused by the temporary traffic lights at this spot to see a rethink to the proposed plan is needed.
I live near the Shaftesbury Road end of Cole Street Lane which is a single track road with passing places.
Whenever there are interruptions to traffic flow through Gillingham on the B3081, drivers of all types of vehicles, including buses and massive car transporters use Cole Street Lane to by-pass the delays and jams on Shaftesbury Road into Gillingham. They come down Cole Street Lane to access the B3092 just past New House Farm.
This is a classic rat run used every day by commuters. There is no speed limit and there are places where large vehicles often get stuck because there is no room to pass.
With all the road works in Gillingham currently planned, this road will become even more dangerous when increased traffic tries to avoid the B3081 into Gillingham.
PLEASE take this into account and place “access only” signs at both ends of the lane. Traffic should be diverted to Lox Lane which is a normal road where there are likely to fewer accidents. It has to be the sensible solution.
I urge you to implement this before there is a head-on collision or pedestrians are injured.
All this for 3 people on bikes!!! Really what a waste of public money. Install electric recharging points instead. Most people who come into Gillingham drive in. Get real .
A mini roundabout at Waitrose would have worked better than more traffic lights and keep traffic moving.