Eastern Road: Council leader explains why A2030 in Portsmouth is still closed - when will it reopen

Engineering works on the southbound carriageway of the A2030 between the Farlington roundabout and Anchorage Park were due to be completed on Saturday (March 23). Southern Water is carrying out the repair works to a sewage pipe in order to fix recurring leaks, overflows and other issues which has forced the route to shut on several occasions.

They previously said they ran into "unforeseen circumstances" centred around the "replacement of a sewer pipe collar". Rumours swirled on social media that the water service provider engineers simply dug a hole in the wrong place, but this was false. Steve Pitt, leader of Portsmouth City Council, told The News: "The plans they had available to them weren’t as they should have been.

“That wasn’t helpful, but the reason for the delay was engineers trying to get a good seal on the link they’re putting between two sections of pipe. One side wasn’t fitting properly and was leaking. They’ve had to revisit that in order to make sure they get a pressure seal." The closure was implemented on March 16, with motorists running into heavy traffic delays on surrounding roads including the A27 and A3(M).

Engineers are re-lining 300 metres of sewer, after the first 200 metre stretch was repaired between February 3 and 8. Cllr Pitt added that he cannot currently make guesses about the economic impact on the high street - with motorists avoiding travel entirely due to the roadworks on the A2030 and elsewhere in the city centre. "That sort of information takes months to come through on economic data, but it’s definitely unhelpful," he said. "There’s a balance here between essential works needing to be done to make sure the sewage system is functioning properly, which is obviously very important, and recognising that there is an impact to that.

"The visitor economy is very important to the city. We don’t want anyone to be turned off for that reason, but we understand that there is an inconvenience to the motorist. That is why we’re doing everything we can to continue to press Southern Water to get those issues fixed as soon as they possibly can.”

A Southern Water spokesperson confirmed the route is scheduled to reopen overnight. They added: “Eastern Road southbound reopens 4am, Tuesday, March 26. The cycle and foot path has already reopened.”