Morning commuters have been urged to get to work a little earlier or later to reduce traffic flow caused by major trenching work in the City of Hamilton.

The work to install water pipes and fibre optic cables— which will begin on Reid Street, between King Street and Court Street, on Monday — is expected to last until September 3.

Edward Benevides, chief operating officer and secretary to the Corporation of Hamilton, said there would be no access to Spurling's Hill for traffic coming into the city. He said traffic travelling into Hamilton along East Broadway would be diverted along Front Street and people looking to access Reid Street could turn onto Court Street.

There was no estimate on how much longer commuters could expect their journey to take. However, the Corporation said yesterday it was working to ease the strain. Mr. Benevides said: "What we are doing to try to cope with [traffic delays] is have two lanes going from along East Broadway, all the way to Court Street. It will alleviate [congestion] somewhat, but it is not going to alleviate it all.

"It will cause a small inconvenience to people going east bound on Front Street, because they will be forced to go up Court Street and then down Church Street, down King Street and out [of Hamilton]."

Mr. Benevides advised morning commuters to follow the signs posted in the city.

He said there would not be any changes to the evening rush hour on Front Street and King Street.

"We encourage people wherever possible to use public transportation which will help to reduce the number of cars travelling into the city each morning. Other options include travelling into the city earlier than you normally would or, come in later, which would also help to reduce the amount of traffic during the peak morning travel hours.

"We are extremely mindful of the fact that schools will recommence at the beginning of September and it is our goal to have this work completed before school starts," Mr. Benevides said.

Stephen Todd, president of the Chamber of Commerce said there could be a direct impact on employees and employers in Hamilton, particularly if the work continued into the beginning of September.

Mr. Todd said: "There is never a good time for this type of work to be completed and we believe that the City of Hamilton has looked at this carefully and has considered all possible options and alternatives prior to having arrived at this decision to proceed with the road works.

"We would hope that the work has been carefully planned with respect to the timeframe required to complete the road works. However in the traffic notice provided by the City of Hamilton they have not specified the expected end-date for the work to be completed.

"And as we approach the end of the summer months and with the new school term beginning in September, the volume of vehicular traffic entering the city will increase significantly and this could potentially lead to delays."

"In our view it will require all commuters to plan ahead and ensure they start their daily commute earlier than normal in order to arrive at their destinations on time."

Mr. Todd expects that businesses will share the same concerns and said there could be a potential impact with employees arriving late for work. These delays would only become longer if there was bad weather or any other road conditions while the works are underway, he said.

Supermart on Front Street was one of the businesses expected to be heavily impacted by the trench work. A spokesman for the store said: "We have been made aware of it and we have made alternative arrangements for that time period for deliveries."

The Corporation of Hamilton said in order to accommodate extra traffic there will be two lanes operational from Crow Lane through to Court Street between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

This means traffic travelling east on Front Street will be diverted up Court Street.

There will be no parking on the south side of Front Street, from Spurling's Hill to Court Street, during these hours.

After 9 a.m. each day East Broadway will be reduced to one lane of inbound traffic and will remain that way until 7.30 a.m. the following day.

There will be no right turn from Front Street to King Street between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Traffic will be able to travel from Middle Road to Reid Street but there will be no left turn at King Street between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Buses travelling along Middle Road into the city will be diverted to Front Street, via Court Street, where left turns will be controlled by a Police officer.

Traffic flow at the Front and Court Streets intersection will also be controlled by a Police officer between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Eastbound traffic on Front Street will be diverted north on Court Street during this time. And there will be no access to Front Street from King Street and Court Street between 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Vehicles exiting from the car park opposite Supermart on Front Street will be restricted to left turns only between the hours of 7.30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

For more information visit www.cityhall.bm.