A NEW road that promises to transform car travel in Newport will not fully open for another three weeks, a council chief says.

Contractors last predicted the Southern Distributor Road (SDR) would be open by the end of August.

But Brian Kemp, head of engineering at Newport council, said safety barriers and lighting were still not up to scratch.

He said: "The contractors haven't done all the work necessary before we will declare the road open.

"There are bits of safety barriers that need finishing and there are some issues with lighting. I would say it'll take another three weeks before traffic can use it all. There will be a formal opening ceremony at the end of October.

"A lot of the new road is already open. It's in the contractor's financial interest to get the work done as quickly as possible."

SDR project manager Peter Frood said the road's failure to open would not stop cyclists on the Tour of Britain racing over the new bridge tomorrow.

It is the latest in a string of delays to hit the project. Graham Grundon, managing director of construction firm Morgan Est, said he expected the road to open before the end of June - nine months ahead of schedule.

Contractors then blamed "tidying up" of roundabouts and barriers when the June date was missed and shifted the big day to the end of July.

It was then found that part of the road had sunk into a rubbish tip underneath, pushing the unveiling of the £55m road to the end of August.

The SDR has been under construction since June 2002. It will link the M4 at junction 24 to the Pont Ebbw roundabout to divert traffic away from Newport centre and improve access to business areas.

Councillor David Atwell, Tory spokesman for transport, said: "I'm surprised and disappointed that Mr Grundon's assessment has been three months out.

"It's frustrating that the road looks so good and appears to have been mostly completed. Why can't we use it? For the sake of a bit of overtime it could be up and running.

"It would've been wonderful if it had been open in time for the new school term.

"It would've made a big improvement round Langstone."