The closure of Lake Hill at the same time as the closure of Knighton Shute near Newchurch is set to cause significant travel disruption for motorists from next Monday. Island Roads is undertaking works on Lake Hill, between Sandown and Shanklin, from Monday 19th until Friday 23rd February. Workmen will be on site between 07:00-17:00 daily, but the closure will need to remain in place 24 hours a day. It is anticipated the repair work between the junctions of Brownlow Road and Ranelagh Road will take 5 working days. All traffic will be diverted via The Fairway/Perowne Way in both directions for the duration of the works. At the same time, Knighton Shute – a busy route for motorists heading north/south – is also set to close. Although not an official diversion, motorists normally use Knighton, Newchurch and Apse Heath to avoid congestion in The Bay. Island Roads is closing Knighton Shute/Knighton Lane from Monday 19th February until Friday 8th March. Access to/from Newchurch will still be possible via Lime Kiln Shute and past The Garlic Farm – a far from ideal route to avoid the Lake diversion though. Many local residents have commented that they hope the traffic lights at the Avenue Road/Perowne Way junction in Sandown will be adjusted this time around. In the past, there have been significant delays through Perowne Way when Lake Hill has been closed. One disgruntled resident has told Island Echo:
“There is no indication of any attempt being made to minimise the disruption or avoid the closure. Given the significant delays and disruption caused to public transport and traffic in general caused by just a one way restriction last year, this is going to cause utter chaos”.
Local traffic regulation orders show that temporary traffic lights could be set up on Perowne Way on Wednesday 21st February too. Works at The Fairway in Sandown, which were due to take place this week during half-term, have been postponed. UPDATE – An Island Roads spokesman has said:
“We are continuing to undertake extensive work at this time of year, enabling us to maintain the network whilst minimising disruption to the strategic network during the summer months. “We do recognise that, as important as it is, work of this nature does inevitably cause some disruption, so we would like to thank residents in advance for their co-operation and apologise for any inconvenience. “Knighton Shute/Newchurch Shute are not advised diversions due to the works planned for those areas at this time and we would strongly advise drivers to follow the official diversion routes. “Perowne Way and Avenue Road have been successfully used as diversions when previous works have been carried out on Lake Hill. “We will continue to monitor the traffic management during the works and will make any adjustments necessary to help minimise disruption for motorists.”
