Five weeks of roadworks to improve access to one of Ipswich’s most notorious bottlenecks is due to start at the end of this month – leading to fears of delays for motorists in the run-up to Christmas.

Suffolk Highways will be starting work at the junction of Nacton Road, the Havens, and the A14 on Monday, November 20 on the latest phase of the scheme to increase vehicle capacity in the area.

The five weeks of work will widen the approach from The Havens to the Nacton Road roundabout to create an additional third lane, which will increase entry capacity.

Two lanes will also be marked and signed along The Havens from the David Lloyd roundabout to improve capacity and support the new road layout.

Throughout the works The Havens will be reduced to one lane of traffic and the outer lane of the roundabout connecting Nacton Road and The Havens will be closed. A 30mph speed limit will also be in place at all times.

It is the latest and final phase of work to improve links between the A14 and Warren Heath which has also seen Nacton Road and Ransomes Road widened.

This has made the traffic flow better – although it did cause serious congestion while the work was taking place during 2015. The area has seen a major growth over recent years with the opening of Futura Park as well as new businesses moving to the Havens.

This last section work is expected to cause serious traffic delays at peak times during the five-week programme which is likely to run until Christmas.

It will be especially bad news for traffic trying to get to the new businesses that have been set up on the Havens, but a spokesman for the county council said it should make life easier for drivers once it was completed.

There are currently long queues of traffic trying to get out of the Havens at the end of the working day as it all has to funnel out through two lanes and some drivers heading west on the A14 are confused about what lane they should be in.

Paul West, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for Ipswich, said: “These works are another example of us working to make things better for motorists in and around Ipswich.

“While there will be unavoidable disruption while we improve the junction, the benefits of this additional lane will improve journeys for people and businesses in the area.”