WORKS worth £20 million to redesign a major bottleneck in Basingstoke will not start until January after being delayed.

Hampshire County Council was due to start works to redesign Brighton Hill roundabout in 'late autumn 2021', but the authority has now said that work is "set to start towards the end of January 2022".

It comes as HCC appointed Milestone Infrastructure Limited to carry out the works.

The scheme, which will see two years of works, will see traffic lights placed on all arms and the subways filled in, to be replaced by surface toucan crossings.

It had previously been delayed by overrunning works at Thornycroft, which was delayed because of the Covid pandemic.

HCC has been contacted to ask for the reason behind the latest delay.

Councillor Rob Humby, deputy leader of hampshire county council and executive lead member for economy, transport and environment, said: “It’s good to see we are now able to take this scheme forward with the appointment of a contractor to carry out these important improvement works.

“Brighton Hill Roundabout is a key junction on the A30 South West Corridor and congestion at peak travel times is significant.

"This will be further exacerbated by future increases in travel along the corridor, and traffic growth associated with developments identified in Basingstoke’s local plan.

"The planned improvements will help to ease congestion, improve access in and out of Basingstoke and enable economic growth.

"The improvements will build on and complement those made to the Winchester Road roundabout and pave the way for further potential improvements on the corridor, including dedicated cycleways, reducing bus journey times and targeted road capacity improvements.”

The scheme was dealt a blow last year when Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council rejected plans for a controversial link road running through the Camrose football stadium.

Councillors decided that the loss of the football stadium had not been properly mitigated, meaning HCC had to reassess its plans for the roundabout upgrades.

The link road was to be constructed to allow the council to close the Western Way entrance on the roundabout, after fears that it was dangerous. However, it will now remain open.

The £19.3 million scheme will be funded from the Local Growth Fund by the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership, as well as developers contributions and funds from Hampshire County Council.

The roundabout will be widened to increase traffic capacity, and traffic signals will be installed to manage traffic flow more efficiently and improve pedestrian and cycle safety.

Other measures include improvements to walking and cycling routes including upgraded footpaths, segregated cycle tracks and Toucan crossings.