A councillor is demanding a firm timetable for long-awaited safety improvements at Vittlefields Junction, more than 7 years after a fatal crash prompted calls for action.
The crossroad junction, where the A3054 Yarmouth Road meets Betty Haunt Lane and Whiterails Road, is once again on the Isle of Wight Council’s agenda, with proposals due to be considered by the Transport Committee on Thursday.
Conservative Group Leader Councillor Ed Blake has welcomed the latest movement but says residents need assurances that the scheme will now be delivered without further delay.
Around 7,000 people signed a petition calling for improvements at Vittlefields following the fatal collision in 2019.
More than 5 years have also passed since the Isle of Wight Coroner called on the council to take action to prevent further loss of life at the junction. Councillor Matt Price has repeatedly pushed for those recommendations to be acted upon.
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, Cllr Blake said:
“Everyone will welcome any genuine progress at Vittlefields, but people have heard promises before and they understandably want to know when these improvements will actually be delivered.
Article continues below this advertisement “The council has repeatedly struggled to bring forward infrastructure projects in a timely manner, and that history raises legitimate questions about whether this scheme will now be prioritised and completed without further delay.”
Cllr Blake says previous delays to highways schemes across the Island give residents reason to seek greater certainty.
He points to the Prison Estate roads, where major improvements have yet to materialise more than 5 years after the council received over £6million to take responsibility for the network, as well as the prolonged closure of Bath Road and ongoing issues at Southgrove Road.
The Conservative councillor has also highlighted the lack of a permanent solution for the A3055 at Undercliff Drive, more than a decade after its failure, and the continuing uncertainty surrounding the long-term future of Military Road.
Meanwhile, work on the A3056 safety scheme has now begun, but more than 3 years after funding for the project was awarded.
Cllr Blake will use Thursday’s meeting to press the council for a clear timetable for Vittlefields and a commitment that the safety improvements will be treated as a priority.
He added:
“Residents have been waiting years for action and deserve certainty.
“My message to the council is simple: tell the public when this work will be completed and demonstrate that Vittlefields will not become another project lost in years of delay and indecision.”
Oh, the irony!
Price was elected to the Council in 2013.
The Tories had been in charge since 2005 for EIGHT years.
They have spent 12 years out of the last 21 “running” the Council.
As with their counterparts in Westminster, Island Tories are great at running the Islandl in opposition, but when they have the power to DO something, they either cannot or will not.
This Vittlefields Cross tragedy occurred in April 2019.
The Jackanories were in power from 2017 to 2021 under the “leadership” of the useless Dave Stewart, so Price and his cronies had two years to address this accident black spot.
Did NOTHING, but now want it sorted.
Maybe as “Leader” of the Tory “group” of two, Blake will have a reshuffle as Badenough has.
There are many more locations that are UNSAFE
It appears that the trusting IW Council rely on
motorists respecting 20mph locations by placing
a few signs with 20 on
IT DOESN’T WORK
Yesterday afternoon Brading High Street a
Grey / silver colour Porsche sped off from the
traffic lights nr the old Post Office at 30mph+
I would estimate then doing 40mph+ along a
20mph zone
SAFETY AND RULES CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF THEY ARE
“”ENFORCED””
TIME TO INSTALL DECENT SPEED CAMERA’S
AND DECENT CCTV SO IF ANY NUMPTY TRIES TO
ATTACK THE SPEED CAMERA’S = INSTANT IMPRISONMENT
NOT A PAT ON THE BACK.
Writing in capitals equates to shouting.
It’s rude to shout.
They still seem to be ignoring the work already done (over a year ago) ,to remove the hedge and move the fence-line back to massively improve visibility for the exit of Whitehouse Road.
I travel that road several times a day, and am unaware of any major accident, at that junction, since that work has been done
If that, has already had the effect of achieving the stated aim (of a “50% drop in accidents”)
Then what is the point in spending millions more (of our money), on ‘improvements’ that are unnecessary??
Just a reduction in speed Islandwide
would help.
I cannot believe in 2026 there are no installed
speed camera’s on the island.