The roadworks on the A31 at Ringwood will be completed on time in November but more overnight closures are planned beforehand to get the road ready for road users.

It’s been 12 months of activity and diversions, especially for local residents visiting Ringwood, but National Highways is planning to re-open everything on Saturday 19th November at 6am.

The road will fully re-open between the Ringwood and Verwood junctions, with three lanes westbound and four lanes eastbound. The westbound Ringwood and eastbound Verwood entry slips will also re-open.

Last week saw the removal of the contraflow system which saw westbound traffic travel over the new bridges for the first time.

The outside lane westbound and the two outside lanes of the eastbound carriageway will remain closed while completing work in the central reserve including drainage work, road surfacing and installing new safety barriers.

A series of overnight A31 closures will enable final preparation and the removal of traffic management. These will take place between 8pm and 6am as follows:

• Tuesday 15 November – A31 eastbound closed between A338 Ashley Heath and M27 J1 Cadnam
• Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 November – A31 westbound closed between M27 J1 Cadnam to A338 Ashley Heath
• Friday 18 November – A31 eastbound closed between A338 Ashley Heath and M27 J1 Cadnam

National Highways says: “Thank you to everyone for their patience while we’ve delivered this challenging scheme. Throughout the duration of the scheme, we’ve worked closely with local authorities and a number of community groups to ensure the benefits of this scheme are felt by all.

“The project team had been in dialogue over further suggested mitigation measures. However, with the scheme now close to completion these discussions have come to an end.”