ROADWORKS caused traffic tail backs along the A31 during rush hour this morning.
Work started on the Bournemouth spur road off the A338 today and a section of the southbound dual carriageway was restricted to a single carriageway, causing tailbacks stretching back to Stoney Cross and made worse by an accident there.
The work marks the start of a major £26million scheme, which will involve a total reconstruction of the carriageway, improvements to drainage systems and renewal of safety barriers.
During recent months ecologists have been relocating protected species of reptiles from the grass verges between the Ashley Heath and Cooper Dean interchanges.
The current work will see Dorset County Council carrying out a detailed survey of the road and throughout the winter a barrier will be erected to ensure the reptiles do not move back onto the verge.
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