MOTORISTS were in for a surprise on Monday morning as the road works on the A338 Spur Road got under way.

Many were expecting a nightmare journey as the busy dual carriageway was transformed into a single road.

Some had chosen to go via different routes to get in and out of the town while others planned an early rise in a bid to escape the queues.

But as highway chiefs had hoped, motorists experienced a relatively easy ride with many of the routes running freely.

We took to the skies yesterday to see what affect the road works had on the rush-hour commuters.

Traffic going through the contraflow at Blackwater Junction flowed easily and despite a slow-down of motorists in some places the other main routes such as Barrack Road and Castle Lane East were relatively clear, as our picture shows.

The major work at the Blackwater Bridge junction includes the closure of the slip roads. At present the slip road is closed on the southbound carriageway. This will be reopened before the northbound slip road is closed.

Diversions via the Cooper Dean roundabout, Castle Lane East, Barrack Road, The Grove and Hurn Road are in place.

"The road works are expected to last 14 weeks and will be completed before the Christmas shopping starts.

David Gibb, head of Highways Client Services at Dorset County Council, said: "We worked hard to make sure that people are very aware of the proposed works in advance and have taken heed of those warnings to find alternative routes. That's an encouraging start.

"If people are patient in terms of knowing about the road works and do approach them at a reasonable speed then it should continue to flow smoothly.

"There will be times when the traffic builds up and that is not surprising when you think that between 40,000 and 50,000 vehicles use that road each day.

"We will be continuously monitoring the progress of the works and will do all we can to ensure that we finish as early as is humanly possible."

First published: Sept 7