Southampton Redbridge Causeway: A35 weekend closures dropped

The road serves as a link between the New Forest waterside area and Southampton

Plans to close a main route into Southampton over two weekends have been dropped.

Hampshire County Council had planned to close the eastbound A35 Redbridge Causeway on 15-16 and 22-23 July as work continues to strengthen the ageing concrete bridges.

It said the closures were no longer necessary after "significant progress" was made on Saturday and Sunday.

Commuters have faced long delays since January because of lane closures.

The eastbound carriageway was shut last weekend, on what was supposed to be the first of three full weekend closures.

It is hoped the overall project to maintain the three bridge structures will be completed by November.

Traffic tailed back up to 2.5 miles from the flyover when lane closures were put in place in January

Lane closures in place since the start of the year have seen instances of gridlocked traffic through nearby Totton and 2.5-mile tailbacks as far as Ashurst in the New Forest.

The road serves as a link between the New Forest waterside area and Southampton and connects with the M271.

The work is part of an upgrade to the bridges that are used by roughly 60,000 vehicles a day. It is aimed at ensuring they will last another 30 years.

The work is aimed at prolonging the life of the bridge structures