ONE of Hampshire's busiest trunk roads was to reopen this morning after being closed for the past six weeks.

Traders on the A36, who had seen business plummet by between 50 and 90 per cent during the closure, welcomed the final removal of cones.

However, they warned that only time would tell whether the safety measures installed by Highways Agency bosses would cut the accident rate on the road, which has been dubbed "Death Valley" by residents.

Maxine Byrne, who runs Bellevue Garage, said: "They have put in a couple of crossings and some anti-skid road surfacing, but I don't think these minimal safety measures have been worth all the disruption.

"The contractors have been brilliant, they've worked really hard. But trade has gone down 90 per cent - we've lost £10,000 and we can never get that back.

"We've sold two cars in the past six weeks, normally that would be 15 or 18."

Jim Hatch, who runs Hatch's Garage, added: "It's been a bad time for us.

"We're down 50 per cent in takings, so I am very pleased that the road has finally reopened."

Anti-skid road surfacing has been laid outside his garage, and a crossing has been installed nearby at the Canada Common roundabout.

Another crossing has gone in opposite the Shoe Inn, in Plaitford.

New, smoother road surfacing has also been laid on the stretch from Ower to the Canada Common roundabout in the £770,000 scheme.

Since the road was closed on January 17, motorists have been sent on a 12-mile detour around the A27.

Cones were due to be removed on Friday but contractors, hampered by cold and wet weather, were forced to push back the reopening until today.

Work has now started on resurfacing the dual carriageway link between Ower services and junction two of the M27.