Removal of disused rail tracks in Weymouth resumes

Parts of Custom House Quay will be closing 24/ 7 between now and the end of March, with local diversions in place.

The work will be carried out in three phases, with sections of road closed 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, and local diversion routes put in place.

Custom House Quay is currently closed from The Pavilion Car Park to South Parade. South Parade is currently two-way with parking suspended so that the fish loading bay can be accessed.

Next, work will then move down the route to remove the tracks on Commercial Road, with the road closed between 'The Loop' at Cosens Quay Car park and St Nicholas Street. There will be no access from Lower St Edmund Street onto Commercial Road but St Nicholas Street will remain open.

In early February, the third phase of work will remove the final section of track on Commercial Road and Custom House Quay, between St Nicholas Street and St Mary Street. There will be no access under Town Bridge during this work. St Mary Street will remain open.

Drainage work, including the repair and renewal of tidal flaps, will be carried out between February and March, with surfacing currently programmed for night work at the end of March.

Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said:

"Once again, we'll be asking drivers to think carefully about their route into town when our work starts up in the New Year.

"We've planned our work to minimise disruption as far as possible and we will be out of the area by the Easter weekend.

"Please get in touch with the project team if you have any specific concerns about access arrangements during these final phases of the work."

In February 2020, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that Dorset Council was successful in its joint bid with Network Rail for funding to dismantle and remove the rails, which pose difficulties for all road-users.

Since the project began on 5 October, the disused, decommissioned rails have been successfully removed from King Street and along Commercial Road between King Street and Lower St Alban Street, and the area resurfaced.

A section of track along Custom House Quay between St Mary's Street and South Parade was also removed last Autumn, and the area temporarily resurfaced.

Previous trials to infill between the rails in heavily trafficked areas had limited effectiveness - showing that a material infill would only last for a short time and would have significant maintenance requirements, causing frequent disruption and being an inefficient use of funds. It also did not resolve the issue of the slippery surface of the tracks when wet.

Where possible, sections of track are being kept in place to preserve some historic element of the Weymouth Branch Line - with a 30m section at the start of the line in Commercial Road and 'The Loop' near Cosens Quay Car Park being left in place.