A BUSINESS owner in Salisbury has called for authorities to look again at road closures in the city which have brought traffic to a standstill today.

Mark Hotson, of World of Furniture on Southampton Road, says the traffic was "gridlocked" when he travelled to work this morning.

The road closures which started today on the the A338 between the Britford Park and Ride and the Harnham Gyratory are for carriageway resurfacing and restructuring, road markings, adjustment of ironworks and associated works" to be carried out.

"It was the heaviest traffic I've faced on the ring road for a long time," he said.

The closure is set to remain until Friday, September 25, but will not be in place during weekends.

Local traffic and buses will have access via gatemen, and through traffic will be diverted via Blandford.

Mr Hotson says authorities need to think more about the impact these types of closures have on the city.

"You trust those in authority to do the right thing by the city and the people and look at the bigger picture. The kids go back to school and have been off for five months - they must have been aware of the condition of this road - it didn't happen. It is all 'lastminute.com' and it affects me, people going back to school," he said.

He says it is "awful" adding: "I'm just one person and this affects thousands of people travelling through our city, commuting to work and people trying to get to hospital to appointments. I get the point that the road needs repairing but I don't understand completely why things can't be done in a slightly better way. I'm sure more can be done but how much more?"

He questions whether the work could be done at night.

"I understand the danger but what about the process could it be done at nighttime, what are the areas that greatly need it or are they doing the whole stretch? I don't know, it is day one and all my staff were late to work, I had a meeting cancelled. Without being negative, and I try not to be, things can only get worse. If I was in an ambulance I don't think it would get through. It has safety implications."

Mr Hotson fears shoppers and visitors to the city could decide to go to other areas outside of Salisbury to avoid the traffic, which could have a knock on effect for businesses.

"We are recovering from Covid as are many of the retailers down here but this sort of thing is just enough to take the edge off it and create another form, I wouldn't call it lockdown, but people will boycott us, they won't bother to visit."

Mr Hotson says he understands the pressure the highways authority is under but adds: "This is serious. Given it's timing and schools going back and that we are just re-entering autumn and the timing of Covid-19 and the state of businesses this needs more looking at."

Pictures on social media this morning showed long queues of traffic around the city during the morning rush hour.

Cllr Bridget Wayman, Wiltshire Council's Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused to road users, but this road is in need of urgent repairs and a deep reconstruction is required, so this work needs to be completed now.

“The road will be closed on Monday-Friday for three weeks, reopening at 6pm each Friday and closing again at 7am on the Mondays.

“We recognise that there is never a good time to do roadworks, and the timing is always going to be a compromise considering other demands for road space on our network, but we have agreed this with other organisations, including Highways England and utility companies.

“The 24-hour, Monday-Friday, closure means that, weather permitting, the works will be complete within the three-week window planned, with some work overnight; the work would take more than five weeks if the road was reopened each day.​   

"We are continuing to closely monitor the traffic and have changed timing of lights at Harnham gyratory to improve the flow of traffic. We are also looking at introducing signing and lining at Exeter St Roundabout to help traffic flows, and we will continue to monitor and make changes to traffic controls as appropriate during the duration of the roadworks."