Dorset Council will shut the Esplanade 8pm to 6am from 28 September to 17 October for resurfacing, with Wessex Roundabout to follow. The full autumn list.

Weymouth Esplanade is due to close to traffic overnight for the best part of three weeks this autumn so the seafront road can be resurfaced. Dorset Council’s live programme of road works lists a full closure of the Esplanade from 8pm to 6am between 28 September and 17 October 2026, with the road open as normal during the day and at weekends. (Dorset Council, live programme of road works)

The Wessex Roundabout, where Weymouth Way meets the Dorchester and Chickerell roads on the edge of town, follows straight after: the council has it down for the same 8pm to 6am closures from 19 to 23 October. (Dorset Council)

The two Weymouth schemes close out an autumn resurfacing programme that starts on the A37, the main road between Dorchester and Yeovil. Brakers Hill is being resurfaced under overnight closures until 14 August, and Long Ash Lane takes its turn from 17 to 25 August, again from 8pm to 6am. The council says all of these roads will be open outside the published hours and at weekends, and warns that timings can change for operational reasons, with updates posted on the same page. (Dorset Council)

Timeline of Dorset Council's autumn 2026 resurfacing closures, from the A37 in August through village daytime closures in September to Weymouth Esplanade from 28 September to 17 October and the Wessex Roundabout from 19 to 23 October
Graphic by The Dorset Post

Daytime closures in the villages through September

Between the A37 and the Esplanade, the resurfacing crews work through a run of village roads under daytime closures, most from 9am to 4pm. The published list runs: the Church of Holy Rood junction and Cranes Meadow in Buckland Newton from 28 August to 4 September, Sandy Lane in Minterne Magna from 7 to 10 September, The Knapp in Hinton on 11 September, Herrison Road in Charlton Down on 14 and 15 September, and the access road to Lewell Mill at West Stafford on 16 September. Corfe Mullen then gets the longest stretch: Waterloo Road from 17 to 22 September, and Rushall Lane and Knoll Lane together from 23 September to 2 October. (Dorset Council)

Micro surfacing: two visits to each street

A separate micro surfacing programme covers residential streets, and each one gets two visits between 8am and 6pm: the old surface is removed on one date and the new one laid weeks later. In Weymouth, the new surfaces go down between 31 August and 8 September on Chapel Lane, Broadwey Close, Selwyn Close, Pemberton Close, Clayton Close, Jenner Way, Beverley Road, Roman Close and Monmouth Avenue. (Dorset Council)

Elsewhere on the micro surfacing list: six streets in Broadmayne (Bakers Paddock, High Trees, Osmington Drove, Broadmead, Woodlands and Rectory Road) are resurfaced between 24 and 27 August; Dorchester’s Lucetta Lane follows on 27 August, with Coburg Road and Edward Road on 20 and 21 September; Cowleaze and St Martinsfield in Martinstown are done on 9 and 10 September; Jennys Lane in Lytchett Matravers from 15 to 18 September; and West Street in Corfe Castle on 19 and 20 September. (Dorset Council)

What it means for you

If you live or work on the Esplanade, or you are staying in one of its hotels, plan for no through traffic between 8pm and 6am on weeknights from 28 September to 17 October. The road stays open in the daytime and at weekends, so daytime deliveries and school runs are unaffected.

If you drive the A37 at night, the Long Ash Lane closure from 17 to 25 August is the one to note this month; it is an overnight closure of the main Dorchester to Yeovil route.

If your street is on the micro surfacing list, expect the 8am to 6pm closure on both the removal date and the resurfacing date, not just one visit.

Dates can move, so check the council’s live road works page before you travel, and our Dorset roadworks and travel page keeps the wider picture, including the strategic road schemes, in one place.