Work at Custom House Quay paused for Christmas as project delayed

Dorset Council's teams have worked an extra week this side of Christmas to make up some time, as 'challenging conditions' have caused the project to fall behind schedule, the authority said.

Highways teams working on the project have also been required to help out with the county's response to recent severe weather.

Work on Custom House Quay started on Monday October 4. Dorset Council is making changes to the road layout to encourage 'mixed use' of the harbour, by making enhancements for the hospitality trade and making the area more pedestrian-friendly. Improvements are also being made for commercial harbour-users.

• Read more: Weymouth Harbour closed to traffic from today

So far, drainage has been improved and the footway has been widened, with new paving slabs laid, from St Mary Street almost up to East Street, the council said.

The area was made safe and tidy yesterday (Friday 17 December) and work will resume on Tuesday January 4 2022.

Councillor Ray Bryan, portfolio holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “We’ve had some challenging ground conditions on site so we’re not quite where we had hoped to be.

"We’ve worked an extra week this side of Christmas to make up some time, and I’m confident that we are on programme to finish construction before the Easter holidays.

• Read more: Major traffic changes at Weymouth Harbour (and this time it's permanent)

“Many of the operatives working on this site also carry out gritting duties and emergency response to extreme weather like flooding and road clearance, so precise timings of works may change but we wanted to share these dates with residents and businesses.”

Changes afoot at the harbour

The revised schedule of road closures is as follows:

In the New Year, work will continue progressing eastwards towards the Pavilion end of Custom House Quay with small sections of road closing to provide a safe working safe space. Access for pedestrians is unaffected and businesses are open as usual.

• From January 4 to February 11 – the road will be closed between East Street and South Parade. Kerbing, drainage and paving works will be carried out, this includes work on the harbour side of the carriageway.
• From 14 February to 11 March – the road will be closed between South Parade and Pilgrims Way. Kerbing, drainage and paving works will be carried out.
• From 14 March to 6 April – the road will be closed from Pilgrims Way to the Esplanade for kerbing, drainage and paving works.
• Additionally, from 28 February to 22 March work will also be taking place on the harbour side of the carriageway at the western end of the scheme between St Mary Street and Maiden Street, with this section of road also closed. This work will complete kerbing and drainage works, as well as rebuild the fishermen’s ramp.
• This work couldn’t be completed earlier in the project as a decision was awaited on the Traffic Regulation Orders for the scheme.
• Towards the end of the scheme, the road and harbour side footway will be surfaced and imprinted with paving effects. The dates for this will be available nearer the time, as dry conditions are needed for the imprinting.