HISTORY will be made tomorrow afternoon as the £89m Weymouth Relief Road opens to traffic.

Drivers will be guided onto the carriageway by police in what will be a landmark event without the pomp and ceremony.

The first tyres will move over the road at some point ‘after lunch’.

It is warned there will be a delay while the barriers are removed from the Manor Roundabout end and the Ridgeway end and traffic officers lead the first vehicles out onto the new A354.

At the same time the existing Dorchester Road will close at the railway bridge on the Ridgeway so work can begin on the Bincombe junction.

Upwey residents wishing to travel to Dorchester on the bus from tomorrow will travel on a county council-organised shuttle to Littlemoor which will connect with northbound services.

While tomorrow sees the main 7km-long Weymouth Relief Road carriageway open, it will be another few months before the whole scheme is complete.

As well as the Bincombe junction, there is still work to be done on the new Littlemoor Road, the park and ride site at Mount Pleasant and on footpaths and cycleways.

Nonetheless the opening of the relief road will be a ‘historic’ moment which Weymouth and Portland residents have been waiting for more than 50 years, says Dorset County Council leader Angus Campbell.

He said: “The Weymouth Relief Road will help support the economic development of the borough through delivering reliable journey times on the strategic A354.

“To achieve this and to produce such a visually pleasing and environmentally sensitive example of modern road building is a triumph and a great credit to all concerned.”

It is warned that temporary traffic lights will be set up on the relief road at off-peak times over the next few weeks so fencing works can be finished off.

It was hoped the main carriageway would be open by Christmas but poor weather pushed the date back.

Princess Anne inspected the road in December in a visit arranged when it was hoped the road would be finished by then.

Dorset County Council says there are no plans for an official opening ceremony – drivers will just be directed onto the road.

Motorists are being urged to drive with extra care and attention as they get used to the new layout.

Broadwey division county councillor Andy Cooke said: “The Weymouth Relief Road has had overwhelming local support and its opening is something to really celebrate.”

Linden Lea division county councillor David Crowhurst said residents in villages which had been used as rat-runs by drivers trying to avoid queues on the Ridgeway can look forward to a reduction in the number of vehicles.

The relief road is a Dorset County Council scheme funded by the Department for Transport and constructed by Skanska.