Road users travelling through upper Ventnor last Friday (12th September 2025) encountered temporary traffic lights between 10am and 2pm.
Island Roads have confirmed to OnTheWight that they are preparing to tackle the carriageway profile issues at Newport Road, commonly known as the ‘graben‘.
Decades of ongoing issues
This stretch of road has required repair work for many decades.
Engineers believe a geological fault causes the problems, with the fault opening up at the crest of the Ventnor landslide.
Worsening conditions
The situation has deteriorated significantly over the past year. Long cracks and dips now affect both the footway and the road surface.
Authorities have closed one side of the footway to pedestrians due to safety concerns.
Bus and lorry drivers have been seen swinging across to the opposite lane to avoid the increasingly severe camber.
Core sampling complete
A spokesperson for Island Roads explained the recent work.
“Preparatory works including taking core samples of the existing construction have been done to minimise the disruption when the actual works are delivered.
“Coring was completed last Friday, further information regarding the proposed works will be provided once the cores have been examined.”
Part of wider intervention strategy
The repairs form part of a broader approach to managing this geological challenge. The spokesperson added,
“This is one of several interventions planned during the PFI project as determined by the ongoing movement of this known geological feature.”
Island Roads will provide more details about the proposed works once they complete their analysis of the core samples.
