THE SECOND phase of road resurfacing in a city centre is set to begin.

The carriageway in St John’s Street, Friary Lane, New Town, Baffins Lane and East Street in Chichester is showing signs of “significant weakening”, West Sussex County Council said.

Resurfacing work in St John’s Street, Friary Lane and New Town will start on May 10 and is expected to take two days.

Subject to weather, the work will be carried out between 7am and 7pm.

In Baffins Lane and East Street, two days of work is scheduled to take place from May 12, between 8pm and 6am.

The new surface will be smoother, which will reduce road noise, and be more resilient to potholes, the council said.

The improvements will also include renewing road markings and adjusting or replacing drainage covers.

Shops and other businesses will be able to open as normal. Access to Chichester District Council’s Friary Lane car park will be maintained via South Pallant on the day of the works.

A West Sussex County Council spokeswoman said: “We appreciate these are narrow, historic roads and that work of this nature does cause disruption for both residents and businesses, for which we apologise.

“However, every effort will be made to try to minimise the inconvenience: for example, in the case of the overnight work, our contractor will try their best to carry out the noisiest operations in the earliest part of the evening and before 11pm. The short-term disruption will lead to long-term improvements for all road users.”

Before the works begin, warning signs will be displayed in the local area, where any changes to dates will also be shown.

The roads will be closed to through traffic for the protection of both the public and workforce and pedestrian barriers positioned adjacent to the works. Parking will also be prohibited.

The carriageway in Old Market Avenue, Theatre Lane and South, East, North and West Pallant was resurfaced in the first phase of the improvements project last September.