The Isle of Wight Council is considering three reports from Island Roads about sections of Undercliff Drive affected by ground movement earlier this year, with the option of permanently closing Undercliff Drive on the table.
Back in February, the Isle of Wight Council called for the assistance of the Army to help evacuate homeowners from the Undercliff area after a significant landslide forced geotechnical work to be abandoned and the area to become a no-go zone. A massive operation involving police officers, soldiers, firefighters and coastguards was carried out and the area has been locked down since.
Now, the Isle of Wight Council is set to consider options suggested by Island Roads for the future of the St Lawrence to Niton route, which includes permanently closing Undercliff Drive. To date, nearly £65,000 has already been spent on securing the site and abandoning the geotechnical project.
The options being considered are:
• Pedestrian only route – upgrade of the existing remaining access so suitable for pedestrians
Cost – Up to £500,000
• Single lane traffic – with a possible one-way system and/or passing places and traffic signals
Cost – Up to £4million
• Two way traffic – repair and re-open the road to two way traffic
Cost – Up to £20million
•Realignment of the road – site an alternative route further inland along the original Undercliff track running behind the property ‘Woodlands’
Cost – Up to£500,000
• Temporary access – interim measure for vehicular access
Cost – Less than £100,000 but will require further expenditure
• Permanent road closure (no vehicular or pedestrian access)
Cost – Less than £100,000
The majority of options listed are set to be costly, with over £1million already invested in the failed geotechnical works. In times of cut backs across the Island, a permanent road closure is a serious option for the Isle of Wight Council to consider with the land becoming abandoned like nearby Blackgang Village.
The Isle of Wight Council will now need to consider the contents of the reports before recommendations about the future of the site can be put before the council’s Executive.
The three failure reports have been posted on the council’s website and can be found here: https://www.iwight.com/Residents/Transport-Parking-and-Streets/Highways-PFI
Councillor Steve Stubbings, deputy leader and local member for Ventnor West, said:
“It remains a very anxious time for residents directly affected by the ground movement along the Undercliff and we would like to assure all those affected that we are doing all we can to reach a point where we can make a decision on the road’s future as quickly as possible.”
The council’s building control officers are inspecting properties in the affected area weekly to check for new movement and Island Roads continues to undertake detailed monitoring of ground movement and ground water levels. Current data shows that the ground is continuing to move although it has slowed significantly from the rates experienced earlier in the year.
Controversially at the time, media (including Island Echo) were strictly banned from going anywhere near the area despite the important historical significance, however some photographs were leaked to the press of the damage sustained. Furthermore, the reasoning for the Army’s arrival at Seaclose Park in Newport was kept quiet with no mention of the dangerous situation at Undercliff Drive – the deployment was masked as helping areas effected by floods and the delivery of 2000 sandbags until Island Echo revealed the Army had arrived at the South Wight location.
A report will go to the council’s Executive once officers have had time to consider the failure reports. It will be for the Executive to decide which, if any, of the solutions put forward by Island Roads can be implemented.
