A Newport resident who lives on Noke Common is calling on the Isle of Wight council to take action over what he describes as long and continued tailbacks around the St Mary’s junction roadworks.
For over a week Roy Scott says that the new traffic lights for traffic from Forest Road have been causing massive congestion, back to Northwood, to Coppins Bridge, and also on Forest Road itself.
Scott: My road has become a car park
Roy has been in writing to Isle of Wight councillors for some time, and this morning updated them on the situation, asking what they intended to do.
Noke Common has effectively become a car park, he says, as drivers attempted to get from Cowes to Newport.
Ward: Light at the end of the tunnel
Cllr Ian Ward, the cabinet member in charge of transport issues, replied to say there was “light at the end of the tunnel” and that the scheme is due to finish a month earlier and under budget.
Roy said he didn’t care whether the scheme was under budget, because “it wasn’t our money anyway”. He said the road closure at Rolls Hill and the suspension of the Cowes floating bridge (also under Cllr Ward’s portfolio and out of service for the last three weeks) was making a bad situation even worse.
Ward: “There will always be those who doesn’t get the message”
Cllr Ward told Roy that it was always the case that August would be the month causing most delays and that,
“The work at Forest Road junction and the expected delays was well communicated, but there will always be those who doesn’t get the message.”
IWC: Tree removal was a safety issue
News OnTheWight has asked the council what they will be doing to remedy the long tailbacks.
An Isle of Wight Council Spokesperson said,
“A temporary road closure was put in place on Rolls Hill yesterday for essential safety work to remove tree branches.
“As this was a safety issue, it was not possible to delay work, or wait until the winter when St Mary’s Junction improvement project was completed.
“The work was scheduled to take place outside of peak times and Island Roads allocated additional resource to ensure it was completed in one day, rather than the intended three.
“Given the nature of the work it was also necessary to undertake it during daylight hours.
“While this work was essential, we apologise for inconvenience caused, which may have been added to by other matters including a road traffic accident at the same time in Horsebridge Hill.”
Article edit
12.02pm 4th August 2020 – Response from IWC added
Image: © Roy Scott
