Island Roads is set to carry out a pair of major road improvement projects this month.
The first scheme will begin on 8th September and will involve a 2-week upgrade of sections of Ventnor Road in Apse Heath. Once that work is complete, a second project will begin on a section of the A3056 in Arreton, with improvements scheduled to take 3 days.
Due to the need for deeper-than-usual excavations to rebuild the road foundations, both roads will be fully closed to through traffic for the duration of the schemes.
The work programme is subject to change due to factors such as the weather or unexpected ground conditions being encountered on site. The Arreton work will not begin until the Apse Heath work is completed.
Island Roads has contacted residents in Ventnor Road to discuss their access needs during work.
An Island Roads spokesperson said:
“It is clear these sections of road require improvement and unfortunately it is not possible to undertake such work without some degree of disruption.
“However, by undertaking work to strengthen the foundation of the highway we hope that the need for future maintenance at these locations will be reduced.”
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Ventnor Road will be closed between Apse Heath Roundabout and The Brambles while the Main Arreton Road will be closed between Downend Road and Wight Farm Energy.
Information boards will be erected at both locations in advance of work commencing. Diversion routes will also be signposted during work.
Presumably IR can charge for “improvements”, as opposed to reinstatement or maintenance.
Mind you, our roads were never built for the volume and weight of traffic they now suffer.
For a small island there are far too many vehicles,
islandwide permit parking would reduce the clutter.
I wished the person who puts out the signage done a
better job, sometimes it can be confusing, also use
sandbags when placing signs.
There is a common thread here when Island Roads is mentioned that people slag off the quality of the roads on the Island. I bike ride and I note the comments of other bikers that come here about how good our roads are. Last weekend I did a charity bike ride in Glasgow and saw first hand how atrocious the quality of the road surface was. We are lucky here, and IR do a good job maintaining our roads. (I do not have any connection to IR , apart for using the roads in my car and bike)