Weymouth relief road on route to ancient sites (From Thisisdorset)

Weymouth relief road on route to ancient sites

7:00pm Tuesday 11th November 2008 in

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AT least one burial mound and evidence of a prehistoric landscape have been uncovered during advance archaeological work ahead of building the new £84 million Weymouth relief road.

Two diggers and two 25-tonne dumper trucks have been working to strip away nearly 30,000 square metres of top soil at Ridgeway to reveal possible archaeological features in the chalk landscape.

Dorset County Council environment director Miles Butler said: “Progress has been good on the advance archaeological works.

“Nearly 30,000 square metres of top soil has been stripped and Oxford Archaeology has been carefully excavating features to investigate whether they are of archaeological interest.

“We have found the features that were picked up in the geophysical survey, undertaken as part of the planning process, and evidence of a prehistoric landscape has been found as well as at least one burial mound.

“Work may be slower during wet weather but we have allowed plenty of time to ensure a thorough investigation is completed before work on constructing the road starts.”

Several schools in the area have been offered site visits. Westfield Technology College was the first to view the area while more school visits are planned.

Another 20,000 square metres has still to be explored. The overall area, which is bigger than four football pitches, is being checked ahead of building the long-awaited route so that anything of historical importance can be recovered and recorded.

Preliminary work for the scheme is also going on to finish a site compound at Littlemoor for archaeologists to use during their work which could take six months.

Interest in the scheme has been intense and nearly 2,000 people attended public exhibitions about the project.

The county council hopes to complete the route from Manor Roundabout to Ridgeway by 2010, with the whole scheme including bridges and modifications to the old A354 Bincombe to Ridgeway road to be finished in 2011. When the road has been completed the authority expects benefits to include improved journey times, reduced congestion, a park and ride facility, public transport improvements and a nature conservation area.

There will also be better conditions for cyclists, walkers and horse riders through quieter roads, new paths and better links to local facilities.

Permission for the road was finally given after the Government and a public inquiry inspector backed compulsory purchase and side road orders for the scheme.

A Department for Transport decision on funding the scheme is expected by the end of the year.