Sections of one of the most important roads on the Isle of Wight are to be rebuilt and resurfaced in a scheme set to last over 2 months.
The project on York Avenue in East Cowes is part of ongoing work by Island Roads to improve the Island’s highway network.
It’s said that the work is being undertaken early in the year when COVID restrictions are in place so work can be completed before the start of the main tourism season. However, disruption is set to last around 70 days meaning visitors to the Isle of Wight will be disrupted as the country unlocks and the tourists flock to the Island.
The work is being split into separate phases to ensure as much of York Avenue as possible can remain open to traffic for as long as possible. In addition, the resurfacing element of the work will be undertaken at night.
That said, the project also involves the strengthening of the highway foundations to make it more durable in the future. This requires fairly deep excavations which will mean each work section will require a 24-hour-a-day road closure for the duration of the phase with local diversions in place.
The scale of the work is also large with approximately 3,000 square metres of road being excavated up to a depth of over 2ft (650mm) with some of the removal being done by hand given the presence of underground services in the area.
The project is due to get underway on 1st March. The 4 phases of the rebuilding elements are expected to last a total of 64 days while the resurfacing is scheduled for 6 nights to be split into 2 phases at the end of the reconstruction phases. Resurfacing is currently scheduled for between 2nd-9th June shortly after the reconstruction, although the actual dates may vary slightly depending on the progress of the reconstruction phase.
The aim is for the road to be fully opened over the May Bank Holiday while arrangements will also be made to ensure there is no impediment to polling in the local elections on 6th May.
Island Roads construction manager Keith Gourlay has said:
“Residents and visitors will know that there are sections of York Avenue that are in great need of rebuilding and resurfacing. This work is intended to improve the road quality now and for many years to come.
“The strengthening of the foundations is a process that required some excavations that are best carried out during the daylight and when temperatures can be expected to be warmer.
“Because of their depth, it is not possible to safely re-open the road after each shift so as a result the closures – which we have sought to limit by phasing the work – will have to be 24-hour ones.”
Keith has said that while the project is being undertaken outside of the main holiday period, working in the winter and early spring does make the project more susceptible to weather delays.
“We cannot control the weather of course but we will ensure we keep the local community and the media updated with the progress of the scheme. We have already held discussions with local elected members and we will continue to engage as we know this will be a project that will, because of its size and scope, have a local impact.
“But we do hope that any short-term local inconvenience is offset by the longer-term benefit of having the ride quality of this very busy gateway route improved.
“We would like to thank the local community and road users in advance for their understanding and co-operation.”
Details of the scheme’s progress can be found at https://islandroads.com/current-works/york-avenue-east-cowes/.
Now that we are not subject EU rules (that was the point of Brexit, yes?) we don’t have to accept 44Tonne HGVs. Nor do we have to accept coaches too long/wide for our roads. But, of course, if there’s some money to be made by well-known European contractor Vinci (aka Eurovia aka Island Roads) now that we are out of Europe, who are we to argue?
So you dobt want food and materials bringing to the island?
So what is suggested plan to get around food deliverys ? Smaller lorries means more deliverys that means higher prices at the till.. That is just one of many problems small lorries cause. What about the transportation of fuel? Cars and commercial goods… HGVs and Haulage is the backbone of British delivery systems ..
Helen everything you buy in your home like nail varnish to building comes on a 44 ton artic vehicle 55ft long then it could be put on smaller trucks but then you need more to carry the same as as the original artic which in turn will gridlock roads and make ferry bookings full. The truck drivers joke is if you don’t like big trucks stop buying stuff
If large lorries cannot be used; there will need to be more smaller ones; more traffic on the roads per tonne of product moved, and an obvious consequential price rise to cover it. NB; 44Tonne lorries are no bigger than 32 Tonne ones !!!!!
You’re all assuming that every truck is full. How many different supermarket chains are there here? Each has its own truck fleet. A more sensible approach would be fewer supermarkets and/or combined deliveries, which could result in a similar number of trucks but all smaller. Or, and here’s an outlier, RF could have built their freight terminal (where the TruckBucket would dock) up at Kingston, missing out East Cowes completely. But no, Cowes Harbour Commission doesn’t do strategic thinking, and we already know the extent of Transport Supremo Cllr Ward’s brainpower.
Helen, do you have specific logistical knowledge and figures relating to the used capacity of goods vehicles coming over, or are you just speculating?
Putting to one side the question of whether it is a good or bad idea that could have been done at any time regardless of being in or out of the EU. It’s totally irrelevant.
Who said the country is going to unlock any when soon?…. false info from island echo as normal
At least we have the floating bridge!!
Unlock! Flocks of tourists! Who writes this stuff? Deliveries – bring back the railways!
Surely Mr Gourlay means ” improve the the road quality for a couple of months”
I have sent emails moaning about the poor quality surfaces we’re left with months after they have laid them.
You’ve been paid enough money to carry out these works.
Do the job properly the first time. What is so hard about that, stop making excuses.
It actually costs more to go back the 2nd, 3rd , 4th and even the 5th time as I have witnessed.
It is no good opening up and then putting us all in LOCKDOWN again!
I am fed up with being a Pawn on a Chessboard
I didn’t realise that we were unlocking but if Darren says so it must be true
Perhaps the gas, electric, telephone/cable, water, sewer
can be done at the same time. Or is that too difficult?
Dig up, repair, dig up, repair, dig up,..repeat.
A lot of what has to be done is due to lack of maintenance. The section by the Prince of Wales has been terrible for years.
With the closing of the fuel depot at East Cowes our fuel is no longer transporting by ship, hence more heavy goods lorries on the road out of East Cowes. The old depot no doubt was sold to build more ‘prime location’ houses.
Fuel has been coming over by road before the terminal closed
Why they have left such a main route so bad for so long is beyond logical reasoning. Should have been done as one of the first roads of the PFI project.
Messing around with little back roads, when so many main roads are in ruin.
Its not rocket science to understand, the key to strengthening any network is to upgrade the backbone first. In this case all main roads.
The work is going to take 64 days starting 1st March so complete by end April but the resurfacing isn’t until early June – so what’s happening during May?
Long tea break if island roads has anything to do with it
If these road works are to last 2 months, let’s hope the country does NOT UNLOCK for another 2 months then. Doing so will be a very big mistake. COVID infections will soar again here in the UK.
Hahahaha! The irony of your “handle” Sunshine….