A CLOSED road is causing traffic chaos for residents in a Basingstoke suburb.

Those living on the Rooksdown estate have taken to Facebook, and raised concerns with the parish council, about severe congestion in the mornings following the closure of The Avenue.

The road, which runs past Basingstoke hospital, has been closed for several weeks for long-awaited improvement works.

As a result, all traffic entering and leaving Rooksdown now has to go via the A339 roundabout, which has caused a build-up of traffic in peak hours.

Jodie Burghes posted on Facebook: “It’s the volume of traffic using the Roman Road roundabout from all directions. I leave around 9am and it’s hideous.”

Daniel Okeeffe added: “Traffic lights at the roundabout might give us a fighting chance. Quite a few near accidents. The buses struggle let alone the residents.”

Jan Simms also posted on the social networking site, saying: “Traffic lights would definitely help. This should have been thought through properly before the road closure rather than afterwards. I hope a resolution is sorted out sooner rather than later.”

Simon Bound, a Rooksdown parish councillor, said the matter has been reported to Hampshire County Council.

He added: “It’s something we are aware of and we have passed the residents’ concerns on to Stephen Reid, the county councillor, and he’s talking to the highways department to see what can be done.

“The main problem is peak time in the morning. There are queues of traffic because of the traffic coming down from the Newbury side of the A339 and it’s difficult to get a space to get out on to the roundabout.

“The traffic builds up. There’s nowhere for people leaving Rooksdown to get on to the roundabout.”

The Avenue is expected to be closed for another six to seven weeks. The improvement work is being funded by developer Taylor Wimpey, which is building new homes at the nearby Limes Park development.