Island Roads will hit the ground running in the New Year with three highway improvement schemes beginning early in January. The projects are at Station Road, Wootton, Eddington Road, St Helens and Carisbrooke High Street/Calbourne Road which are all part of Island’s strategic road network. In each case, deep excavations are required to address the underlying ground conditions that have caused the highway to deteriorate in some areas. Though this means the sites will be closed as through roads for the duration of the work period, the need for future maintenance should be reduced. In each of the schemes, the work is being done in phases to reduce disruption. Access will be maintained to properties wherever it is safe to do so. Work at Eddington Road is scheduled to begin on Tuesday January 2 and expected to last 20 working days. Work will be done in two phases - between Upper Green Road and Nodes Point Holiday Park (approx. 18 days) and then between Kerry Field and St Helens Church (approx. two days). Work at Station Road is also scheduled to begin on January 2 and is expected to last 14 working days. Phase One is between Briddlesford Road and Littletown Lane (approx. five days) and Phase Two between Packsfield Lane and Wootton High Street which is expected to last nine days. Work on Carisbrooke High Street/Calbourne Road is also due to begin on January 2 and be split into two phases, the first in Carisbrooke High Street between Priory Road and School Lane (two days) and the second phase in Calbourne between Betty Haunt Lane and Rowridge Lane (3 days). There will be no work at weekends but because of the deep excavations required, it will not be possible to re-open the roads during the construction periods. For reasons such as inclement winter weather and the ground conditions experienced on site, the schedules are subject to change. An Island Roads spokesman said: “Because we seek to limit our work in the summer season so as not to impact unduly on tourism, it does mean we have to concentrate work in the remainder of the year, including during the winter. General highway maintenance sign

Have your say on highway services with Island Roads’ latest survey

The short survey invites residents to give feedback on the range of highway services delivered by Island Roads such as highway maintenance, road and pavement resurfacing, winter services, street cleansing and lighting, verge and grass cutting.

Island Roads uses feedback from the survey to identify those services deemed to be performing well and also those where it is felt improvement are needed.

A busy year
2023 has once again been a busy year for Island Roads in which it has continued its work to upgrade the condition of roads and pavements across the Island and carry out its year-round programme of highway maintenance and repairs.

This has included responses to some challenging weather including a string of named storms and the torrential rain that brought severe flooding to parts of the Island late last year.

It has also continued its planned programmes of street and gully cleansing, verge and grass cutting and vital winter services to keep the highway areas safe for drivers.

Ashman: How have we performed?
Island Roads Service Director Steve Ashman said,

“Once again it has been another very busy, and sometimes challenging, year and we’d like to know from the public how they feel we have performed.

“This feedback, added to that we receive throughout the year, helps us to asses what needs to be done to maintain and improve our services.”

Take the survey
The survey runs from 1st to 28th February and can be accessed online.

Paper copies of the survey including large print versions are available on request, by emailing [email protected]



News shared by Gavin behalf of Island Roads. Ed