Residents had geared themselves up for two weeks of disruption, as the planned closure of Newport Road (by the graben) in Ventnor began on Monday morning (24th June 2024).
However, Southern Water have been working hard to complete the task and the road is due to reopen much sooner than anticipated. They say it should be reopened by 10am on Saturday 29th June 2024.
In an update on Friday afternoon Southern Water advised that the road would now reopen at midday rather than 5pm. They said,
“The cooler weather today means the tarmac is curing quicker than anticipated. These essential works were due to a sewer becoming displaced and a risk of the road collapsing. We are grateful for the support and patience of local residents and apologise for any inconvenience caused. Further information.”
New bus route
Southern Vectis will no doubt be taking a sigh of relief because in preparation for the works, which were described as major sewer repairs and would mean there is only one main road in and out of Ventnor, they created a new bus route — the 3X or the triple X as some liked to refer to it.
Complications
Monday saw some difficulties with Southern Vectis being able to continue serving Upper Ventnor with the regular Route 3 buses, after cars were left parked in the designated turning area.
This was attributed to a delay in road cones being put in place by Southern Water’s contractors. It was all sorted within a few hours, but did lead to passengers having to walk from Wroxall to Upper Ventnor and vice versa.
Other issues
The anticipated gridlock along Ocean View Road and Gills Cliff Road ended up being quite minor in comparison to previous weeks, but further out of town many drivers did ignore the Do Not Enter signs on Whitwell High Street, causing confusion (and some risk) for the oncoming southbound traffic from Godshill.
Other road closures still in place
Although Newport Road will soon be reopened and back in use, the town is still coping with the closure of Leeson Road due to the Bonchurch Landslide (which connects Ventnor to Shanklin), Lower Gills Cliff Road (route from town centre out to Whitwell – avoiding extra traffic on Ocean View Road and Gills Cliff Road) and Bath Road (retaining wall collapse that the owner doesn’t want to take responsibility for).
Residents have been adding their names to the petition urging those in power to “Take emergency steps with Council Heads & Island Roads to reopen road access to Ventnor now”.
At time of publishing the petition had attracted 2,229 signatures.
Article edit
3.45pm 28th Jun 2024 – Update from SW added
