MOTORISTS will face more than eight weeks of traffic misery as a scheme to update a major road gets underway today .

Those driving into Southampton could face major delays as roadworks begin on the A35 Totton bypass.

The scheme is part of Operation Resilience, Hampshire County Council's initiative to 'future-proof' the county's roads.

Workers will close one lane of the eastbound carriageway for half a mile daily from 9.30am until 4pm while they resurface the road and footpath and replace fencing between the Rushington roundabout and the B3076 High Street.

They will then begin a similar project on the westbound carriageway which will see a combination of night-time and daytime lane closures.

The two-month scheme aims to protect the road from extreme weather as well as increasing traffic.

A council spokesman said: “The work is part of the Council's Operation Resilience programme - a long term strategy to 'future-proof' Hampshire's roads and continue to make more of them resilient to the effects of extreme weather and increasingly heavy traffic.

“Good roads and footways are essential for the county's economic prosperity, accessibility and quality of life, but above all, these works will improve safety for all highway users.

“Work on this scale will inevitably cause some disruption which is regrettable, but it is unavoidable. However, we will endeavour to complete the works as quickly as possible and minimise disruption, and would like to take this opportunity to thank people in advance, for their patience during this time.”

The cash for the project is coming from the £30m spent by the council every year on maintaining the county's roads.

Work linked to Operation Resilience has already been carried out on Rushington Avenue in Eling, Watermans Lane in Dibden Purlieu, Hyde Abbey Road in Winchester, The Hangers in Bishops Waltham, White Way in Exton, Geoffrey Crescent and the Palmerston Avenue shop access road in Fareham and Bridgemary Avenue and Cunningham Drive in Gosport.

Council roads boss Cllr Seán Woodward said: “Some councils just fill a pot hole but Operation Resilience is about building resilience into the roads. That means we need to do larger areas than we would before so they don't fall apart afterwards.

“There's an old saying that a stitch in time saves nine and that's very true for our roads.”