Work to repair another of the Island’s poor quality stretches of main road is to begin next week, with the schedule of work having been changed to reduce disruption.
From next week, Island Roads will be reconstructing and resurfacing Staplers Road in Newport from Snooks Hill to its junction with Fairmount Drive. The work is needed given both the current poor condition of the road and the fact that its weak substructure means the section is deteriorating at a fast rate.
It was originally indicated that the work would take place between 06:00 yesterday (Thursday) and 18:00 today (Friday) and again between 06:00 on Monday 20th and 18:00 on Thursday 23rd, which would clash with the road closure at Arreton. The news, as reported by Island Echo, caused uproar amongst motorist
Work on the project, which involves the excavation and reconstruction of the existing substructure as well as resurfacing, has now been scheduled to take place over six nights from Monday 20th April to reduce inconvenience to road users. During this scheme, the road will be closed between 19:00 and 06:00.
Keith Gourlay, Island Roads construction manager, said:
“Given the importance of this route to travel in and out of Newport, we have designed a scheme that enables us to work overnight when the roads are obviously not as busy.
“Nevertheless it is a large scheme on a main road so we apologise in advance for any disruption there may be. I would also stress however that this section is in a very poor condition and without this extensive treatment it will continue to deteriorate at a fast rate.
“I would like to thanks motorists and residents in advance for their patience and hope that any short-term inconvenience will be offset by the fact that the quality of the road on this busy stretch will be greatly improved by this scheme.”
The alternative route for traffic will be: A3054 Fairlee Road, Racecourse, Lushington Hill and High Street (Wootton), Station Road, Whiterails Road and Staplers Road.
