Newgate Lane and A32 see a total of 6,000 days of roadworks in just four years

Figures show just last year 166 sets of roadworks were carried out on the A32 in Fareham spanning 814 days in total, while Newgate Lane saw 19 over 404 days.

In total, from 2012 to 2015 inclusive, there were 6,131 days of work on the two roads.

Local landowner Andrew Stretton said he now avoids Newgate Lane due to traffic.

Mr Stretton, 46, of Lee-on-the-Solent, said: ‘I don’t go up there – it’s a no-go, especially coming out of Asda.

‘The roadworks are unnecessary a lot of the time.

‘They had a chance to use the old railway line for rapid transport and they put buses on it.’

In recent months drivers have been trapped in Asda car park after changes to the road layout outside Speedfields Industrial Park.

Roadworks can be done in more than one place on the road at one time, meaning the total number of days is higher than the 365 in a year.

Work ranges from lifting a BT cover to check a cable, to major roadworks.

The figures do not include emergencies.

Jeremy Webb, 48, of Monkton Road, Gosport, said he has written to Hampshire County Council, the authority in control of roads, with improvement suggestions.

But he said the number allowed was a ‘disgrace’.

He said: ‘They’re doing more in Gosport now when they only ripped up the road about a year ago.

‘At Peel Common there’s only four blokes working. They’re meant to be working through the night but you can go there and there’s never any diggers and nobody there.’

He added contractors should be rewarded if they finish work early to give them an incentive to finish.

Major improvements are being carried out to alleviate traffic problems in the area.

Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council, said a £90m package of improvements would eliminate all bottlenecks in the area.

He said: ‘That’s a major reason for it.

‘We’re making a £90m investment in the road infrastructure in Fareham.

‘That is an awful lot of work, it’s been going on.

‘It’s a way of trying to get rid of all the bottlenecks.

‘Of course you can’t do that sort of volume of road investment without a lot of works.’

Councillor Rob Humby, transport boss at Hampshire County Council, said: ‘I understand people’s frustration when traffic is slow due to works on the roads.

‘These figures for the number of days of works carried out on the A32, however, don’t tell the complete story by any stretch.’

He said less than 15 per cent of the works were carried out by the county council and that the authority tries to make sure utility companies do work at the same time to avoid disruption.

ROADWORKS

Year Days of roadworks

Newgate Lane, Fareham

2012 229

2013 111

2014 1,167

2015 404

A32, Fareham

2012 1,074

2013 1,219

2014 1,113

2015 814

Total 6,131