The condition of a section of the Sandown to Newport cycle path is to be improved by Island Roads this week.
The path on either side of its crossing with Blackwater Hollow – nearly 200 metres in total – is to be resurfaced during work which is due to begin today (Monday) and last for a total of 10 days.
During the project, the cycle track will be closed as a through route and there will be traffic lights in operation at Blackwater Hollow outside of rush hours – between 09:30 and 15:30.
The work is being done during the winter when use of the cycleway is less busy than at other times of the year.
The work is currently being limited to this particular section because of localised flooding on the route and Island Roads remains in discussion with the Isle of Wight Council re further resurfacing of these areas as soon as this issue has been resolved.
An Island Roads spokesperson said:
“This is a busy route and we hope that by undertaking these works when the cycleway is at its quietest will reduce the impact our will have on users.”
hope they put speed humps in to slow down twats on bikes
For what? All those articles of cyclists killing pedestrians on Red Squirrel Trail that appear so often? Oh, wait, no, that’s Newport and cars 😉
Bikes rarely go above 20mph and even then their mass is 150-200x less than a car so force and hence consequences are faaaaaaar less serious.
No need for such language… editor?
On a ‘cycleway’?
200m?
Most of the route from Shide to Merstone (4km) is a rutted, frequently overgrown and muddy mess unsuitable for anything other than full mountain bikes, though the 200m section they mention is certainly the worst bit (basically a swamp in the winter).
Yay! Gonna be a great upgrade to my weekend Cowes to Shanklin and Sandown route. The little bikes of my kids thank you double!
Try paying for it all, instead of taking tax credits,cheap rent and cheap c.tax, and then SEE if it is Yay.
Easy when other suckers are funding it all.
LOL. I’m literally in the 45% tax band, pay more tax than 99% of folks in this country.
When I moved here from London to enjoy working remotely and swimming at lunch I knew island was full of older folks who are conservative… but casually jumping in online comments to conclusion a woman with children must not be working is on another level 😀
Where did that come from?
I’m way more happy for my taxes to go for it than to pour concrete somewhere to create new parking lot 😉
Glad to hear you are enjoying the tracks, they are a great community asset. I was using the route at the weekend, loads of children and families enjoying fresh air, a real tonic and such a good atmosphere.
I have concerns about the width in places, with the advent of electric bikes the closing speeds can be in excess of 40mph and if both have wide handlebars it can be ‘interesting’.
(Obviously nothing can be done where the river is on both sides)
Wouldn’t it be better to sort some of the awful roads out before dealing with these tracks that the Lycra knobs still won’t use as they insist on clogging up the rds anyway!
They are not doing it for “Lycra knobs” 😉
To avoid that confusion Dutch have two words:
wielrunner for sport cyclists who would not use your traditional cycling routes as they are prepping for, well, literally a road race;
and fietser who is a “commuter on a bike” – non competitive going from place A to B
This is for the latter.
I would add most fietsers are annoyed by wielrunners as much as drivers 😉
It’d be cool to make it more common in English to distinguish about which type of cycle user were talking, fietsers casually commuting to a school, to work, or to a shop to buy a pint of milk are never a problem.
I was just about to write a witty riposte to your charming post, then I thought what a nice day for a bike ride, so I’m off out now to enjoy the pleasant weather.
I for one am very glad that this route is being provided for cyclists, as it will give them the safer option. The road between Merstone and Blackwater is busy, visibilty can be poor in places, and I cannot understand how cyclists take their life in their hands using it.
The “route” has been there for decades. The problem is it is largely unusable during the winter and pretty unpleasant to cycle on anyway as most of the route between Shide and Mersone is a rutted gravel track.
Cyclist take their lives in their hands because, while there is a fair chance of injury on the main road, using the track will definitely damage your bike and you will arrive at work wet and dirty.
If you don’t believe me, park up at Shide and walk to Blackwater. Would you drive your car on a road in that condition? Now imagine that on a rigid commuter bike where the only suspension in that afforded by the tyres and saddle.
Maybe it will encourage them to use it instead of clogging up the roads!
When they actually fix the rest of it to a standard that won’t wreck a hybrid commuter bike I will.
It’s completely unusable in the winter, a rutted gravel track most of the way from Shide to Merstone, severely potholed for the rest of it’s length with tree roots breaking up the surface and gets so badly overgrown by July that two cyclists can’t pass each other and have to constantly duck to avoid branches.
Yeah, a lot of “routes” that show up on various maps require MTBs and only alternative for your casual, upright bikes is often the road.
Like, going from Newport to Island Rising Centre or Monkey Haven… lots of routes between fields are closed by owners and those left require you to have hardcore MTB skills – so a normal person on a normal bike just MUST take the Staplers Rd.
Yup. I am all for cycle lanes. Use them myself. So annoys me when other cyclists cycle on the road up the 50 zone in Binfield putting themselves in danger instead of using the dedicated cycle lane. Just because you can use that bit of fast road does not mean you should. Use the cycle lanes FFS!
Looks OK to me, far better than the road between Park Avenue and St Catherine’s Church in Ventnor plus the road past the Botanical gardens. Why the hell can’t Island Roads get their priorities right?
Or the disgusting state of Great Preston road in Rye, came along it this morning following the “wonderful” resurfacing works and it hammered the suspension from westridge lights to Nicholson road,can Island Roads do anything properly, George Street is even worse with the tarmac scabbing off the concrete base.
Of course IR can’t do anything properly, come on be reasonable. Bodging, yes, experts. I will be generous and give the ‘new’ parts of GPR six months (August) before returning to the norm.
May last longer if some of us park on the pavements to reduce wear on the road surfaces.
Council decides what gets done
The picture isn’t of the bit they are fixing.
It’s the section behind the Toyota garage from the description. This is basically a muddy swamp during the winter.
Even though it may disrupt my commute I’m totally up for it <3 😀
Good luck on the job, Island Roads 🙂
Not heard one comment from anyone who uses the cycle path for walking … Thank you island roads any work you do to this track can only improve it as for cyclists I only have three words for you **** Ring Your Bell.**
Whilst our cars are detroyed driving up Alpine Road and past the Botanical Gardens in Ventnor all so a few cyclists can go out for a joy ride. Time cyclists started to pay to use these tracks.