A31 Ringwood Road widening

Widening the southbound A31 between the A338/B3347 junction at Ringwood and the B3081 Verney Underpass to provide a third lane. The southbound entrance sliproad from West Street at the Fish Inn will also be closed permanently as part of the works.

The existing A31 at this location has four lanes northbound between the two A338 junctions, but only two southbound, carried over the River Avon by a bridge that is only wide enough for two traffic lanes and which predates the dual carriageway. The point where traffic merges with the A31 southbound - at a particularly short merge on the inside of a corner - causes congestion and safety problems, and the entrance from West Street is also considered dangerous.

The original intention, when the four-lane carriageway was provided northbound, appears to have been to provide four lanes southbound at a future point, and the alignment of the road and some structures appear to be laid out to allow this. However, the present scheme will provide a total of three lanes, and presumably four are not considered necessary at present.

When completed, this scheme will eliminate one of Roads.org.uk's Bad Junctions.