From 9am this morning (Friday 19th July) Newport Road, Ventnor will be closed to traffic whilst Southern Water carry out emergency repairs to a fractured sewer.
As the road is expected to be closed for up to a week, possibly slightly longer, Island Roads have decided to bring forward their planned road resurfacing and will be carrying out their work at the same time.
Island Roads Network Manager Kevin Burton said,
“Following a fractured sewer pipe, Newport Road, Ventnor will close this morning from 9am as it is unsafe for the public to continue to drive on this road. Southern Water will be carrying out urgent repairs to address the problem which means a closure is unavoidable. We cannot give an exact timescale for the length of this closure but we should be able to provide more information on this following investigatory works by Southern Water.
“Given this enforced closure, Island Roads will take the opportunity to bring forward planned resurfacing work which, when completed, will restore two way traffic flow to this stretch.”
Return to two-way use
He went on to say,
“Although it is not ideal that the road is being closed during the summer season, by using this enforced closure to bring forward planned work, we hope that overall disruption to the community will be reduced and at the same time, the stretch will be returned to two-way use for the medium term sooner than expected.”
Isle of Wight Councillor for the area Steve Stubbings added:
“I am pleased that Island Roads is taking the chance to use this emergency closure for essential sewerage work to bring forward work that will be in the long term interest of the community. I think Island Roads have bent over backwards to make the best of what is a difficult situation.”
Diversions in place
As mentioned yesterday, diversions will be in place during the road closure, with the No.3 bus being diverted via Whitwell and Godshill and an hourly shuttle bus running from Shanklin to Whitely Bank, Wroxall and Upper Ventnor.
Island Roads say that pedestrian access to the Ocean View chip shop will be maintained.
Residents and businesses will be kept informed of progress throughout the work. If you have any queries, get in touch with Island Roads on 822440.
