Two signalised junctions near Dorset County Hospital are being upgraded.

The existing signal equipment needs urgent replacement and the junctions don’t meet modern standards for active or accessible travel.

Changes will help provide safer access to the hospital site for staff, visitors and patients wheeling, walking and cycling. Williams Avenue is the main vehicular access link to the hospital but has no dedicated provision for cycles.

The signalised junctions at both ends of Williams Avenue, Dorchester, are being revamped to improve safety and accessibility, creating:

• better, easier crossings and wider footways
• shared footway/cycleways
• better traffic flow with new modern signals

The design of the junctions will include altering the layout of the traffic lanes and construction work will include resurfacing the road and footways.

We are liaising closely with the hospital; ensuring that during construction access is kept open to all services, including the emergency department and critical care functions.  

Bridport Road junction

The existing layout of the Bridport Road junction presents a hazardous environment for walking and cycling; there is no crossing on Bridport Road and footways are narrow on what is a key walking route between Poundbury, the hospital and the town centre.

On top of this, the traffic signal poles and equipment are at the end of their serviceable life and urgently need replacing.

Improvement work is scheduled to start in September 2025, and will include:

• upgrading all signal equipment
• installing new crossing on Bridport Road (east of junction)
• new Toucan crossing on Williams Avenue
• removal of left-turn lanes to provide wider footways
• new ‘climbing lane’ for cyclists on Williams Avenue, helping provide traffic-free cycle access around junction

Construction work will also include resurfacing the road and footways.

Damers Road junction

As with its sister junction, Damers Road traffic signal poles and equipment are at the end of their serviceable life and urgently need replacing.

This junction supports key movements for pupils trying to reach the new Damers School site at Poundbury, as well as the Thomas Hardye School on Queen’s Avenue. A safer cycle link between the town centre and Alexandra Road has been highlighted as a priority by stakeholders.

Work is scheduled to start in January 2026 (following the completion of the Bridport Road improvements) and will include:

• upgrading all signal equipment
• installing new Toucan (eastern arm)
• upgrading existing crossings to Toucan
• removal of left-turn lane/right-turn lane to provide wider footways 
• installing cycle lanes on Williams Avenue for traffic-free cycle access around junction

Construction work will also include resurfacing the road and footways.

Although the new layout will lead to a slight loss in traffic capacity, modelling shows that both junctions operate at well within capacity at present and will remain within capacity in the future. Brief periods during peak-time will still see intermittent queuing (as currently happens); however, these periods will generally occur when road users are likely to enter a subsequent queue in the network, leading to a minimal impact on overall journey time or reliability.