The A31 westbound entry sliproad at Ringwood has now closed 24/7 till November whilst widening work is carried out.

This means traffic wanting to leave Ringwood and travel towards the Verwood junction must join the A31 eastbound (towards Southampton) and turn around at the next junction (Poulner Hill).

And for one night only (tonight), the westbound exit sliproad at Ringwood is also closed, meaning anyone arriving from the Southampton area wanting to go to Ringwood will need to go past the Ringwood and Verwood junctions and turn around at Ashley Heath.

This is in addition to the A31 eastbound entry sliproad at the Verwood junction being closed till all the widening work is completed – which is expected to be in November 2022. As a result of this, the Ashley Heath roundabout at the A338 is much busier than usual, and can cause delays on the A338 northbound at peak times.

Other planned work this month includes full closure of the A31 eastbound between the Verwood and Ringwood Verwood junctions overnight on January 24th – 8pm till 6am, and full closure of the A31 westbound between the Ringwood and Verwood junctions on January 25th from 8pm till 6am.

During the roadworks, the eastbound carriageway will provide two lanes each for both east and westbound traffic, allowing the demolition and wider rebuild of the bridges carrying the A31 east.

For more details see the National Highways page on the work, and for real-time updates listen to Forest FM on 92.3 or online.