FOOTWAY improvements along a Weymouth road are due to start during the schools' half-term next week, Dorset Council has announced.

Work is planned to 'improve accessibility' in Connaught Road near Holy Trinity Primary School as the local authority says the pavement on either side is 'impassable' for wheelchair or mobility scooter users.

Pedestrians are being forced into the road to avoid mature trees, Dorset Council says, adding the proposals will provide a 'safe walking route' to access school and community facilities.

The trees are protected under Connaught Road's conservation area status and the area is also set to be resurfaced along with nearby Down Road.

Work will be carried out during the school holidays and phase one will start on Monday, February 13 and should take one week.

Follow up work will be carried out over the Easter holidays, details of which will be confirmed later, the council said.

Proposals include:

  • Extending the pavement into the road around three mature trees on the western pavement to improve accessibility.
  • Realigning the kerbs at the Buxton Road entrance to reduce traffic speeds
  • Installing dropped kerbs and a tactile paving crossing point at the same location
  • Removing the loading bay and zig zag markings outside the old school at the northern end of Connaught Road
  • Introducing a parking bay at the southern end of Connaught Road to 'encourage appropriate parking'
  • Installing ‘Jungle Mulch’ around the base of the trees to provide a flexible, porous surface - the council says this allows the trees more room to grow without disrupting the pavement surface and health of the tree

Dorset Council added that the trees are being kept in place as their loss would 'significantly change the character of the street'.