Major closures planned at one of Portsmouth's 'busiest' junctions for 'critical' work to replace lights

Colas is due to start ‘critical’ work to replace the existing traffic lights at the Paulsgrove Junction, located near the Marriott Hotel, with overnight closures starting this weekend.

The current traffic signals have reached the end of their 25-year life span and they urgently need to be replaced to ensure the junction operates safely.

The work will start on Sunday, April 27, between 9.00pm and 5.00am, with a full closure of all four arms of the junction for four nights.

This closure is so that Colas can set up temporary traffic lights which will be in place for the duration of the works, allowing the junction to remain in use.

Following this four night closure, there will be a period of monitoring the temporary traffic signals with active work not commencing until the night of Tuesday, May 6.

From that point, the night works will consist of localised lane closures around the junction until Sunday, June 22, with advance warning signs in place.

Once all traffic signals have been replaced, there will be two further nights of full junction closures to remove the temporary traffic lights.

Colas will then begin resurfacing the road to complete the upgrades to the area.

Councillor Peter Candlish, cabinet member for transport at Portsmouth City Council, said: "This is one of Portsmouth's busiest junctions, and updating and maintaining these signals is critical for the safety of road users. These works were originally scheduled for February, but had to be postponed due to emergency gas works carried out by SGN on London Road affecting Portsbridge Roundabout.

“Now that those works have been successfully completed, we must resume our essential planned work, and this programme is designed to minimise the disruption to the road network.

"We are aware that these night works coincide with the May bank holidays, which is why we have carefully planned the programme with Colas to avoid full junction closures on those dates.

“Works will be completed in full ahead of the busy summer period."

Services operated by First Bus X4 and X5 will be impacted after 9pm and will divert after leaving the Portsmouth International Port. For more information about the diversion bus route, click here.

Diversion routes will be in place during while the work is completed.

For more information about the overnight closures at the Paulsgrove Junction, click here.