Work to repair bridges at Redbridge Causeway to continue until July, confirms Hamphire County Councillor

LONG delays on a key road linking the New Forest with Southampton are set to continue until July, Hampshire County Council has confirmed.

The work at Redbridge Causeway, which has been ongoing since January, is part of the final phase of a £25m refurbishment of the four concrete bridges that space the River Test.

Now HCC has outlined the next stage of the scheme, starting in April, which will shut the route completely for up to three weekends during the summer.

Long queues and delays of up to 90 minutes have become a familiar sight along the A35, which crosses the bridges and is used by around 60,000 motorists per day.

Currently one lane of the A35 closed for operations underneath the bridge.

New work includes the addition of concrete covers to the bridge and the application of a new waterproofing coating.

HCC's cabinet member for universal services, Cllr Nick Adams-King, said: "I know that those living, working and travelling through the area have already been inconvenienced at times by the traffic management measures we’ve had to implement.

"But this is unavoidable, and I apologise for the disruption.

"However, it’s important to understand that this is a substantial and complex scheme to carefully remove or repair defective concrete sections and the traffic arrangements to date have been essential for the engineers to be able to complete the work safely while keeping the route open, albeit partially at times.

"It also means that, ultimately, the scheme is completed within the shortest timeframe possible, without compromising any aspect, to ensure a full, thorough and high standard of refurbishment."

Closures will be in place on the A35 eastbound from mid-April with the left-hand lane closed from the Totton on-slip to the start of the off-slip to Redbridge roundabout.

The north footway of the A35 Redbridge Causeway will be closed 24/7 and a diversion for pedestrians and cyclists will be in place via the south footway.

From mid-June the right-hand lane of the eastbound A35 carriageway will be closed from the approach to the Totton on-slip until the start of the off-slip to Redbridge roundabout.

There will also be full closures on up to three weekends in June and July, from 8pm on Fridays to 6am on Mondays, to allow waterproofing and resurfacing to be carried out.

Precise dates, diversion routes and access arrangements will be confirmed at a later date.

Cllr David Harrison, a Totton county councillor, said he had sympathy for those affected by the congestion.

He added: "When you consider the many months of delays and the cost to the individuals and businesses I am not at all sure that it wouldn't have been better to construct an entirely new bridge."