The main road between Upper and Lower Ventor is set to be closed for up to 3 weeks whilst Island Roads undertake repair works to a topsy-turvy section of the carriageway.
Work to maintain and resurface the road at The Graben is to be carried out across 10 to 15 shifts between 4th November and 16th December, with a 24-hour closure in place throughout.
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.
A spokesperson for Island Roads has told Island Echo:
“As residents will know, the section of Newport Road in Ventnor is subject to ground movement which means it is prone to rapid deterioration.
“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.
Article continues below this advertisement “The current condition of the road is such that urgent improvement work is required and we have set aside three weeks in November within which we can do this.
“However further discussions are needed before we can confirm the exact nature of the work and the time required to do it. We will endeavour to keep the duration of work as short as possible and are hopeful the actual closure will be shorter than the three-week window advertised.
“We will of course inform the local community when plans are finalised”.
Perhaps they could do a permanent repair this time!
You are, of course, joking. They are the world’s worst. Perhaps if they even worked (as in the dictionary) it would help.
The road is subject to constant movement so not possible sadly. It will always need maintenance.
Someone needs to come up with a creative way of bridging this section – the main vent of Ventnor
I guess the vent could be bridged but it could only be securely anchored on one side and allowed to move on the other. Not impossible but would be something of an innovation.
Green Island where the green funnel belches black fumes, floating brisge which charges daily cyclists £250 a year is fares to go 100 yards and cars that have to take a 10 mile detour for a five minute journey….. save the planet my ****.
You didn’t mention the sewers going directly into the sea, there.
Floating bridge is super weird. Transporting 80kg worth of me is £1.50 but transporting 3080kg of me in a SUV is £2.50…
Literally cars have a cheaper fare than actual people, and by 1000s of % even as they take way more space and time to load.
My deepest sympathies with all ventnor residents. Been utter chaos since Island Roads ( who are not an island company) took over from the Isle of Wight road maintence department.Who made money out of this idea ? Blank chequebook for directors of Island Roads. Should be like New Zealand where on commencement road works are 24 hours a day until finished.
You don’t have to go that far. TfL in London have been making charges for lane occupancy for many years. I’ve managed projects where they worked 2 X 10hr shifts with the remaining 4hrs for curing/setting time using Eurovia/Ringway. It’s down to the local authority to Manage and set the rules.
Bet the residents would love that
At the same time as this
they are closing gills cliff road for 3 weeks from the top to whitwell road
from the 7th
Tipsy turvy well that doesn’t sound serious enough. Amazes me how we can build ships the size of cities, bridges that span miles and can’t fix a bloody road
My grandson said he would like a cowboy outfit for Christmas.I told him I would do my best but apparently Island toads are not for sale.Have to get him an x box instead.
It’s OK you can get frogs
Bloody stupid decision, couldn’t it at least have waited until after christmas. All the businesses will now suffer because of this. Typical Island Roads rubbish planning. If they did it properly last time it wouldn’t need doing again so soon.
4 November – 16 December. How is that 3 weeks?
Did I miss something I thought they supposed to give a few weeks notice not 2days
The artic always three weeks but the dates say six and island roads site says six weeks
Road works on the Island are a Joke.
Every time I see an Island Roads vehicle
The lazy ******** are sitting in their vehicle with their feet up.
Their output is sh*t!
Money for nothing if you ask me.