King Street corridor

Since the King Street signals were switched on it has not been working as efficiently as it could do to clear congestion. This is because we could not introduce the SCOOT system, which is the element that links the junctions, when the signals were first switched on.

The SCOOT system will be in place by the end of this week so that next week we can start to manage traffic flows along the corridor and reduce some of the congestion that has been forming there.

We will continue to keep a close eye on the network and make improvements where necessary to ensure the system is working as efficiently as possible.

Retail park junction

The last junction improved as part of the Weymouth Transport Package will be switched on during the afternoon of Tuesday, 26 July.

The Jubilee Retail Park entrance/exit, Radipole Park Drive and Swannery Car Park have had their kerbs realigned and signals installed.

This junction will feed into Kings Crossroads and improve the access into and out of the retail park.

Kings Crossroads switch on

Kings Crossroads will go live in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and marks the count down to the completion of the Weymouth Transport Package junction improvements.

The Esplanade junction will be live early next week and the Queen Street junction and Jubilee Retail Park junction will be switched on in the next two weeks. 

King Street will reopen to two-way traffic by Friday 22 July.

The project site offices on Swannery Car Park will start to be removed on Monday 25 July.

Kings junction night work

The final night of surfacing work will be on Kings junction:

7pm Tuesday 5 July to 6am Wednesday 6 July

Thank you for your patience during the past month of night works and subsequent road closures.

Reminder – night work

Starting tonight, Kings junction will be closed for surfacing between 7pm and 6am Monday to Friday for just over two weeks:

• Monday 6 June to Friday 10 June
• Monday 13 June to Friday 17 June
• Monday 20 June

Drivers wishing to access the town centre from the west will be able to use Town Bridge or Weymouth Way/Dorchester Road/The Esplanade.

Jubilee Retail Park will be open for business as usual with drivers able to access the site from Spa Road (deliveries will be guided through the works area from Swannery Bridge).

Through traffic will still be able to use Weymouth Way.

The surfacing work is weather dependent and any changes to dates will be posted on this blog.

Mini-roundabout

On Sunday morning there may be some delays in the area of Kings Roundabout while the traffic management layout is changed.

The large temporary roundabout will be replaced with a mini-roundabout.

As you can see from this drawing, left-turn lanes will be provided (apart from Radipole Park Drive into King Street), with right-turning traffic and straight-on traffic using another lane to go round the mini-roundabout.

The change in layout will give workers access to areas that haven’t been reached so far; to continue realigning the kerbs and building splitter islands for the new junction.

It will also allow access to the area next to Jubilee Retail Park, where a large amount of work is needed to build out the kerbs and realign the footpath.

The mini-roundabout will be in place until the new junction goes live in July.

Wessex Water work

A small section of  King Street is being closed to through traffic between Sunday 3 April and Tuesday 5 April while essential sewer work is carried out by Wessex Water.

Access will be maintained to the train station, Esso garage, businesses and properties from the east side of King Street – with the section between The Esplanade and the garage entrance open to two-way traffic.

For the duration of this closure, there will also be temporary three-way lights at Kings junction which will allow a large area of the new junction to be surfaced.

Pedestrian diversion route

Work will be starting next week to build the new footpath around Swannery Car Park.

The green line in this drawing shows the pedestrian diversion route that will be in place.

Three gangs are assigned to work in this area to get the work done as quickly as possible so the busy footpath can be reopened. It is expected to take around five weeks.

Kings junction progress

The roundabout and old traffic islands have been removed and work to create the new junction shape is underway.

There are two retaining walls being built, either side of Swannery Bridge, so that the road can be widened in this area. 

The wall on the car park side of the bridge has been finished and this week work has started on the second retaining wall, opposite Swannery Court. 

The new kerb realignment on Commercial Road is going well and has now switched sides and is moving towards the corner of King Street.

The large island on the King Street arm of the junction is also starting to be built.

Commercial Road night work

This week there will be night work on Commercial Road near the bus depot.

• Tuesday 25 January, 6pm and midnight
• Wednesday 26 January, 6pm and midnight

The noisiest work should be finished by 10pm.

The work consists of digging a trench across the road and putting in casing for the Kings Junction signal cables.

Stop/go boards will be used during the work but access to properties will not be affected.

Bus routes will also be unaffected by the work.