A one-way closure on Queens Road in Ryde is set to remain in place for another 4 weeks, extending the misery to residents and motorists into December – some 10 weeks later than originally planned.
It was on 25th July – just as the Summer holidays began – that work on a 40-metre section of retaining wall got underway, resulting in Queens Road becoming one-way for traffic heading into the town from Binstead.
The scheme was meant to last just 10 weeks but a spanner was thrown into the works when, on 11th August, a concrete-type material was allegedly inadvertently poured into a sewer under the road. This faux-pas caused the closure of the A-road in the other direction too, with the road completely closed for a week in the height of summer.
On 7th October, Island Echo reported that the road was to remain closed for a further 3 weeks to allow Southern Water to undertake further works to fully resolve the issue from August. However, 5 weeks later and work is still ongoing. Island Roads have, however, completed the repairs to the retaining wall.
It has now been revealed that it will be at least another 4 weeks until the workmen pack up and leave, allowing Queens Road to re-open as normal. It is stated that the partial closure has been extended until 9th December, some 20 weeks after the initial wall scheme got underway.
Highly specialist equipment to carry out precise concrete cutting is needed to finish repairs to the damaged sewer and get the road re-opened in both directions.
A Southern Water spokesperson has told Island Echo:
“We’re sorry that this work in Queens Road, Ryde, is taking longer to complete than we had hoped. These repairs require highly specialist equipment to carry out precise concrete cutting, with delays unfortunately out of our control.
“Our teams are scheduled to return to the site at the end of November. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to motorists and local residents, but are doing everything we can to make sure the road reopens as quickly as possible.”
The news that the road is to remain closed for longer has not been well received by locals. 1 resident has expressed their anger at the situation in a letter sent to Island Roads:
“I am absolutely disgusted that these works have been extended, yet again. This can not carry on!
“I can see works are due to begin soon just yards away on Binstead Road as well; you cannot conduct two works this close together, surely? Why don’t you (at the very least) turn off the traffic lights next to the roadworks/at the junction with Queens Road/Binstead Road so that traffic flows straight through – perhaps just change the program to allow pedestrian crossing only.
“Southern Water has not been on site working Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. I do hope they’re being fined for this interruption. You have a legal obligation to the council tax payer, and the road users, to minimise disruption; you are not doing this, and you do not help, you simply pass the blame onto the contractors however, it is YOUR responsibility. You are contracted by the Isle of Wight Council to fulfill your legal obligation.
“The road has been closed/one way since 28th July! I would like to know how much Southern Water and the extremely slow wall builders are paying/have paid to keep this restriction in place all this time.
“I am a local resident and the traffic backs up daily from George Street, up John’s Street, to Fiveways traffic lights, onto Argyll Street and Pellhurst Road. I am going to be invoicing you for my extra fuel. I understand roads have to be closed from time to time but 3 months, 1 week and 6 days is a joke now”.
Island Echo published a letter to the editor on 14th October from another resident disgruntled at the situation.
Island Roads has confirmed that its work to strengthen and rebuild a wall that supports Queen’s Road was completed a month ago, but that Southern Water remains on site to complete work on their infrastructure which requires the current lane closure in order to maintain infrastructure to residents.
I am sure the private owner will be very grateful for having a lovely new wall for free. However I wish the council had used Gabion walling, bringing in the gabion cages, filling each from the demolished wall, then moving onto the next section.
Environmentally friend as no concrete needed, so no blocked sewer or CO2, great for lizards, beetles and other fauna and flora.
Best of all quick, cheap, attractive safe, so, as it was a council decision we can only guess why they never took this option.
‘Specialist, highly skilled, complex’ – aka cock and bull. Just badly managed.
And as the resident said, no change in the traffic light sequence, so congestion is exacerbated. Turn right out of Argyll St, and the lights at the end of Queens Road go red. The green man lights up, and there’s not a pedestrian in sight. Island roads proudly boast they’ve installed state of the art smart traffic signals, shame they have no one smart enough to program them.
total s ..t s..w
Not surprised it is taking longer, i have driven past it many times during the last few weeks and very rarely ever see anyone actually the doing something.
This is why there should be a rule that any site on a road has two employees that work 24 hours a day for every 50 foot stretch. That would mean at least 6 on site 4 watching the workers as usual but might mean the job is completed quicker due to potential costs .
Reg they should be working 24 hours and weekends this is island roads for you ,just who is going to pay for this mess,
All rather pathetic really but it must be a wonderful wall.
And they keep talking about building more properties on the Island.
The island cannot cope now with what it’s got!
Oh get over yourselves. Are you really that bored? Find something better to do than complain about a road closure.
okay, I am not going to complain about the road closed … I am going to complain about the constant noise and exhaust fumes… all the queued vehicles that do not turn the engine off are filling the air with toxic fumes.. right by school gates too… how nice for the children eh ?
As soon as this farce ends, then 60 days of chaos while IR do pavements. IR traffic management is hopeless and exacerbates trouble. Whole island constantly blighted with road works?? Usual silence from our council, except to increase tax bills.
dicky lets hope Ringway island Roads makes a better job of their kirb construction, unlike Priory Walk Niton
Unknown why they have not put temporary lights West St / Argyll St… and at The other end by Binstead Road… and Queens road junction too… ohh sorry would that have been the right thing to do, to ease the congestion, save the town from filling up with exhaust fumes… ??
The photos accurately show the scale of work being carried out, namely nothing happening and not a soul in sight.
It’s all smoke and mirrors , so to speak, I don’t see any activity on site at any time when driving past during different periods of the day, I bet if a southern water executive lived along the road, it would have been sorted by now ?, I just can’t bring myself to believe anything they say, even more so after the Ryde seafront debacle the other year, when they said months to repair and it was almost a year, it seems that everyone wants to dig up or shut all the routes at the same time in and out of Ryde !, I expect once Queens road is open both ways, Wightfibre will appear and commence work, they’ve already started around the corner. !!