A busy junction has closed for seven weeks as work gets underway.

The junction of Wessex Lane and Woodmill Lane in Southampton closed to motorists on Monday.

The seven-week scheme will see workers at the site from 7am to 5.30pm every day.

Here’s what you need to know

The junction has been closed as Southampton City Council makes improvements to the area.

These include:

• Removing the existing traffic island at the junction and implementation of new continuous crossing for pedestrians

• Footway widening either side of the junction to accommodate the heavy footfall

• New pedestrian crossing and refuge island just south of the junction

• Surface water drainage remedial works

During the entire scheme there will be a closure of the junction of Wessex Lane and Woodmill Lane.

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There will be a diversion route in place for any traffic attempting to access Woodmill Lane from Wessex Lane and vice versa, which will be clearly signed.

Workers may be on-site on Saturday mornings.

What can I expect?

Balfour Beatty, in partnership with the council, will first be working on a portion of the eastbound lane of Woodmill Lane, with both directions of traffic maintained.

These restrictions will be in place for four weeks until the next portion of work begins.

In the final section of work there will be lane restrictions in place on Woodmill Lane due to the excavation required in this region, with a lane remaining open for westbound travel only.

These restrictions will be in place for three weeks, up until the completion of the works.

Diversions will be in place for any eastbound travel.

All restrictions will be removed during the University Halls Open Day on September 10, and work will resume on September 11 as normal.

What does the council say?

Speaking on the works, a spokesperson from the council said: “In summer 2022 we introduced traffic calming measures to Wessex Lane near Connaught and Montefiore Halls of Residence and Swaythling Railway Station.

“We will now be implementing Phase 2 of the Wessex Lane improvements, which will focus on the junction of Wessex Lane and Woodmill Lane.

“This work is partly funded by the University of Southampton.

“If this work experiences delays or is ahead of schedule, we will alert users of the road of any new dates by placing yellow ‘advance warning’ signs displaying new dates in the vicinity.

“We will also post updates regarding this scheme on our Twitter, @SCCHighways, or on our website: https://transport.southampton.gov.uk/wessexlane.”