JOURNEY times could be doubled between Christchurch and Lyndhurst when the A35 is closed for repairs this autumn.

The diversion being recommended by Hampshire County Council is five miles longer than on the A31 and could take 40 minutes or more.

This stretch of the A35 has just been voted the fourth most scenic in the UK and carries 10,000 vehicles a day.

For four months from September, when the £850,000 project begins, it will become the road to hell.

The county council is to carry out a major maintenance programme on a three-mile section from Forest Lodge to Wilverley Post.

It involves strengthening and repairing the carriageway, which is particularly bad at Holmsley Hill, and upgrading drains.

Much of the work will be controlled by traffic lights, which will cause significant delays.

But there will also be times when the road will be closed to ensure the safety of workmen.

Closures will mean diversions being signposted at Somerford and Lyndhurst, directing motorists on to the A337 via Lymington.

That will entail a journey of 17 gear-grinding slow miles through the crowded town streets and traffic lights of Highcliffe, New Milton and Lymington to Brockenhurst with its traffic jam-inducing level crossing - this compared with today's 12-mile sprint across the forest via the A35.

Councillors in Brockenhurst are concerned that motorists will rat-run on the B3055 and turn off into their village past the village primary school, currently the subject of a campaign for a safer crossing.

New Milton Town Council planning committee chairman Cllr Wyn Davies said: "The A337 at some times of the year is practically at capacity, particularly at the bottom of New Milton, so any additional traffic will cause some concern.

Many New Milton people commute by car, joining the A35 at Holmsley or Wootton.

"It will hurt other people because they will find other routes to get out of New Milton through Brockenhurst. That's where the problem's going to be, not New Milton," said Cllr Davies.

He and Ray Jones, clerk at Lymington Town Council, thought many through drivers would choose to use the A31 to Ringwood before heading south to Christchurch or Bournemouth.

First published: August 19, 2005