PLANS for Weymouth's long-awaited relief road could come a step closer next week when borough councillors are asked to support the scheme.

The £77 million project, which will take about three years to build, goes before Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's planning and traffic committee on Wednesday.

Members will be given details of the Dorset County Council scheme for the seven-kilometre route from the Ridgeway, through Littlemoor, to the Manor Roundabout on Dorchester Road.

The borough has been asked to submit its comments and formally support the scheme before the application goes before county planners.

But a report to the committee by borough council officers have set out a number of points of concern - including calls for the foundation of a country park in the Lorton Valley to be set in stone.

The green lung, which will sit between Preston, Broadwey and Littlemoor, is aimed at compensating for any damage to conservation areas from the construction of the road.

The Lorton area includes grasslands, hedgerows, scrub, Sites of Special Scientific Interest at Lodmoor, Two Mile Coppice, which is near the Manor Roundabout, and other areas of woodland.

The report to the committee meeting says that the park and other mitigation measures are important parts of the road proposals.

Measures proposed for the Lorton Valley Country Park when it was first suggested included nature trails, pony trekking routes, fishing and walking.

The aim of the 310-acre 'green lung' is to act as a buffer to prevent development between Preston, Broadwey and Littlemoor.

It was also to provide a habitat for wildlife and boost Weymouth's reputation for tourism and leisure, as well as providing a recreational area for visitors and residents with ponds, walking and cycle routes.

The relief road plan also includes improvements to Littlemoor Road, the removal of the existing A354 carriageway between Ridgeway and Bincombe Lane and the closure and removal of the Broadmayne Road/A354 junction.

New roundabouts will be built at Littlemoor and north of Mount Pleasant business park on the New Look site.

There will be a 1,000-space park and ride built at Lodmoor, two rugby pitches, extensive footpaths, cycleways and landscaping.

The plan also includes measures to clearly mark and fence a number of Bronze Age round barrows near the route.

The report states: 'The overall picture that emerges from the assessment shows that the proposals would achieve the important regional objective of improving access to Weymouth-Portland which would, in itself, bring significant transport benefits over a wide area.' Councillors are set to be told at the meeting that if the road is not built then residents on Dorchester Road will continue to experience increases in noise.

The report states that the new road would cut noise in this area but would increase decibel levels for homes close to the new road.

It adds that more properties would experience an adverse effect than a beneficial effect, but most of the noise increases would be in the slight or minimal significance categories'.

The Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) near the route would be initially affected by the road, although 'this would diminish over time to a moderate adverse impact as the planting and landscaping measres mature'.

The report concludes: 'The borough council is keen for this road proposal to be determined locally and to be progressed as speedily as possible, particularly in view of the improvements this will bring about for the local community, businesses and sporting-tourism events including the sailing events of the 2012 Olympic Games.'

Shoppers' support for relief road

ONE thousand five hundred people have signed up to support Weymouth's relief road.

Shoppers at Morrisons in Weymouth signed letters of support and organisers claim 99 per cent of signatures were from local residents.

Dorchester Road Action Group co-ordinator David Woods said he had taken 1,000 unsigned letters to the supermarket but support was so overwhelming he had to go home at lunchtime to print more.

He said: "This exercise has proven just how much support there is in Weymouth, and 99 per cent of the signatures came from people with DT3 and DT4 postcodes so we know the support is here in Weymouth.

"That is very important because 76 per cent of protesters do not even live in Dorset."

Mr Woods, who will now present the letters to Dorset County Council, claims one of the main reasons he supports the relief road is to protect the environment.

He said: "It is so important to reduce pollution on the roads and to preserve our rural routes which are being destroyed by rat-running."

Mr Woods, who lives in Dorchester Road, said more than 600 vehicles have been involved in accidents outside his home over the last 10 years.

The letters reading: I would like to express my support for the construction of the Dorchester Road relief scheme' will be delivered to County Hall in Dorchester this week.