The main road between Upper and Lower Ventnor will be closed for a period of 3 days next month to allow for safety work on sections of Newport Road to be undertaken.
The work by Island Roads will address 3 sections where wider ground movement – a geological feature known as the Graben – has seen the carriageway become particularly uneven.
Given the scale of the movement, it is not possible to undertake a project to address the wider ground movement in this general area so Island Roads is contracted to undertake work at various points during the PFI to ensure the road remains safe.
The improvement project will take place across 3 days from Wednesday 7th December, despite the scheme originally being pencilled in for 3 weeks.
Because the work will involve excavation it is not possible to open the road up at the end of each shift so there will be a full 24-hour road closure in place throughout the duration of work. Access will be maintained to properties as long as it is safe to do so. Pedestrian access will also remain via at least 1 of the footways depending on the stage of the works.
The main road will be closed between Down Lane and Gills Cliff Road, severing the connection between Upper and Lower Ventnor. It means all motorists will have to divert via either Shanklin (9 miles) or Whitwell (10 miles). The closure will affect Southern Vectis buses.
Works were last carried out on this section of the carriageway in February 2019, in a scheme that lasted 6 weeks and saw Island Roads re-profile the camber of the road and re-open a footpath. It was hoped that the works would resolve issues for ‘some years to come’ but 3-and-a-half years later and crews are to return.
An Island Roads spokesman has said:
“We are aware that this is a main route in and out of the town so we have worked with the Isle of Wight Council to agree a scheme that will ensure the road remains safe but which limits the duration of the necessary road closure.”
The work will not overlap with ongoing improvement work nearby at Gills Cliff Road.
Needs digging out as deep as is possible, filling with gabion cages filled with rocks to allow through water drainage and some degree of flex as the subsoil moves, then cover the whole with dense hi stress foam, which is used under homes which have subsided.
This foam can be crushed without breaking the upper tarmac surface should the ground heave, ie move upwards, and allow some protection if the ground sinks.
The gabion cages are flexible to a degree and the whole repair would last much longer than just tipping in aggregates as is always done
Cheap, simple, and effective, so it won’t be used.
It would have been a good idea for these works to commence after the Free School shuts for their Christmas holiday on 9 December.
Yes, heaven forbid that the delightful Muvers, may have to get up earlier to have their joint before walking their swarms of offspring to school for a short while.
I am sure they will get by, with a bag of crisps for breakfast as the benefit paid for one night stand resulting child walks alone to school, whilst they doss in bed with yet another temporary father figure to provide future sired income for the Muver.
I’m a coach driver Why don’t they do the work when the free school is on holiday the diversions are going to be a nightmare through the country lanes.