MOTORISTS can expect four months of misery on a major Hampshire route when water engineering works are launched.

Temporary traffic lights will hold up Mansbridge Road in Southampton from Monday when contractors install a new water main.

Southern Water is carrying out the works to ensure water is available during drought.

The new main will be capable of transferring up to 15 million litres of treated water every day from Portsmouth Water’s reserves.

Pipe will be laid eastbound on the A27 Mansbridge Road from the junction with Wide Lane to Gater’s Mill Water Supply Works.

Temporary traffic lights will be in place which will be manually operated at peak times and a vehicle activated system will ensure traffic moves as freely as possible outside peak hours.

All businesses on and around Mansbridge Road will be open as usual throughout.

Mansbridge Road is expected to be cleared of road works by November.

Work will begin in Wide Lane close to the junction with Mansbridge Road and the pipe will be laid in 100-metre sections east along the A27 finishing at Mill Gardens.

Specialised technology will be used to bore beneath the River Itchen and the M27. The rest of the work will be completed using traditional techniques.

A spokesman from Southern Water said: “The work will form part of our wider water resources programme and will help secure supplies during drought.

“It is vital we improve the way we use and manage the sources of water in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to provide a better balance for both the environment and our customers.”

This will ensure there is more resilience in the network and ease the pressure on the River Itchen from which we have committed to take less water in future.

Further information can be found online at www.southernwater.co.uk/gaters-mill and www.southernwater.co.uk/south-hampshire or @SouthernWater on Twitter.