A BUSY road near Petersfield will now remain closed until tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.
The A272 has been closed at Stroud since this morning due to a burst water main, with reports suggesting the pressure from the water was forcing the road surface to push upwards.
The closure brought chaos to roads in and around Petersfield during this morning’s rush hour, with tailbacks reported on the northbound A3 and on town centre roads as motorists looked for alternative routes around the closure.
Engineers from South East Water have been working throughout the day to try and repair the water main and the road surface but with that work now expected to continue until the early hours of Wednesday morning, the road will remain closed until tomorrow morning’s rush hour.
South East Water’s distribution manager Philip Cereda said: “Our team of water experts will be working throughout the day and night to repair a section of the A272 Winchester Road at Stroud, near Petersfield.
“Water from a burst main caused damage to the carriageway last week and we are currently making the necessary preparations to put the road right.
“To keep the public and workforce safe while this work is carried out, we have put a road closure in place. This will be lifted at 7am tomorrow (Wednesday).
“We would like to apologise to customers and reassure them that our teams are on site and are working as quickly as possible to repair the carriageway.”
The road closure means the main route from Petersfield to Winchester and areas west of the town can’t be used and alternative routes are having to be found by motorists.
This brought extra problems during the morning rush hour on Bell Hill, with roadworks on that route causing extra delays.
Stagecoach has had to terminate its number 67 service between Petersfield and Winchester at Langrish as buses are unable to travel any further east along the A272 towards the town.