Island Roads have this afternoon (Thursday) announced that the Southbound Lane of Medina Way (Dual Carriageway) will be closed overnight on Monday.
The road is set to close at 19:00 Monday evening and reopen again by 06:00 on Tuesday morning.
This is to enable signage to be changed and road markings to be adjusted prior to the new road layout trial to help ease traffic.
In a statement issued by the Isle of Wight Council earlier in the week, new traffic arrangements are to be trialled to see if vehicle flows on Medina Way and Coppins Bridge can be improved.
The trial will specifically test whether queues in the left-hand lane of the Medina Way dual carriageway, on the approach to Coppins Bridge from Cowes, can be shortened.
Under the new arrangements, the destinations for each lane on Medina Way southbound will be amended. The left-hand lane, currently marked ‘Ryde’, ‘East Cowes’ and ‘Sandown’, will be marked ‘Ryde’ and ‘East Cowes’.
The right-hand lane, currently marked ‘Town Centre’ will be amended to ‘Town Centre’ and ‘Sandown’. To summarise, vehicles bound for Sandown will be directed to use the right-hand lane.
On the final section of the approach to Coppins Bridge (beyond the Fairlee turnoff/Link Road slip lane) the 2 lanes will again be marked with new destinations.
The left-hand lane, currently marked ‘Sandown’, will be marked ‘Downs’ and will be for all vehicles using Snooks Hill to access Staplers and beyond. Vehicles bound for Sandown will be directed to use the right-hand lane along with vehicles destined for Newport town centre.
Traffic flows will be monitored during the trial to enable an informed decision to be made on whether to keep the new layout, amend the design to a different arrangement or revert to the existing layout.
Cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, Councillor Ian Ward, said:
“As promised, we have listened to recent feedback on traffic flows along Medina Way and on the approach to Coppins Bridge — particularly on the left-hand lane — and have modelled a potentially new approach to traffic management.
“While there are limited options available to us on Coppins Bridge itself, we are able to explore alternative traffic arrangements and lane markings on the approach and we will be monitoring closely the effects of the new layout.
“In addition, we continue to look at other improvements at the busiest Newport junctions.”
You say you listen to feed back well trying switching the traffic lights off
Whilst they’re fiddling perhaps they could adjust the coppins bridge lights so that they don’t force everyone to stop at every single light as they try to get around it.
But the link road is for Ryde and East Cowes, If this is done you need a crew on standby at Coppins Bridge to clear the wreckage
All good and well monitoring it now. What’s happened about the Police or any one monitoring the speed limit on the dual carriageway!!!! It’s been marked up 30 mph for ages now. Hardly anyone sticks to it. People overtake as normal. If you drove down Newport high street or another 30 mph limit doing 50+ you woul gets a fine and points. What’s the difference ???? Getting really fed up being overtaken every time on that road. I would drive faster if speed limit was higher and safe to do so. Come on if you put a speed restriction into force please enforce it or scrap it.
Totally agree about the current 30mph on dual carriageway…I stick to that yet majority just constantly overtake & obviously ignore it!!
Been here 6+ years and thought the roads should have been like that from the start! They could do away with the short dual bit from Coppins to the link lights as well and use that space southwards for Town Centre lane.
All thats going to happen is traffic coming from riverway sliproad will just come on to the left hand lane and sit still indicating into the right hand lane thus blocking both lanes as the flow of traffic has been pushed over to the outside lane..what muppetts thought this a good idea ..oh yea cllr ian ward another fine idea…turn of the lights and let traffic flow..before the other idiotic light system comes into force at stmarys..