Island Roads Spring Highway Improvement Programme Begins

Island Roads is preparing to deliver another programme of highway improvement works across the Island this spring.

The programme of surface dressing has been agreed following analysis of road surveys and is designed both to increase skid resistance and to seal the carriageway surface, preventing water ingress, which is the major cause for potholes forming.

The work will be carried out between April 24 and May 23, to avoid the school Easter holidays and the May half-term. 

Surface dressing was a technique used last spring to undertake an intense programme of highway improvement.

While that programme concentrated on major routes, such as Whippingham Road, this year it also includes a number of smaller and residential roads.

This is because Island Roads is required to maintain the condition of all types of roads.

The scope is similar to 2024 though, with up to 100,000 square metres of surface dressing planned. That’s around 14km of roads.

Surface dressing involves applying a layer of bitumen onto the highway into which chippings are then simultaneously rolled.

The road is swept initially leaving the action of traffic to further bed down the chippings into the new surface.

Additional sweeping will also be done after 48 hrs and again one week after the treatment.

As the process relies on road traffic to bed down materials, a secondary treatment called ‘LockChip’ will be used on quieter routes - around half the sites – to fix the stones to the surface.

The entire process is carried out by state-of-the-art vehicles, and as surfacing progresses at walking pace, only short duration rolling road closures are required. Emergency vehicles will be able to pass through work sites at all times.

The process requires dry weather and a ground temperature of ten degrees Celsius or above, so the spring is the best time to deliver the works as it also avoids the busier summer season.

Work is being carried out in some areas to prepare the road in advance of the surface dressing.

After the roads are treated, crews will need to return to reinstate cats’ eyes and line markings if required.

An Island Roads spokesperson said:

“This is a widely used, effective and quick process, so disruption to the network should be kept to a minimum even though approximately 100,000 square metres of carriageway will be treated.

“We are looking forward to a programme that will bring considerable safety benefits across the Island as well as prolonging the lifespan of the treated roads by making them less susceptible to potholes."

Confirmation of the sites will be confirmed shortly but are likely to include: Marshcombe Shute, Brading; Gully Road, Nettlestone; Lynch Lane, Calbourne; Freshwater Road, Calbourne, Newport Road/Freshwater Road, Shalfleet/Freshwater; Gate Lane, Freshwater; Victoria Road, Freshwater; Guyers Road, Freshwater; High Street, Niton; Barrack Shute, Niton; Laceys Lane, Niton; Binstead Lodge Road, Binstead; Chestnut Close, Binstead; Pellview Close, Binstead; Hillrise Avenue, Binstead; Bowcombe Road, Carisbrooke; Bellevue Road, Cowes, Seaview Road, Cowes; Maxted Close, Cowes; Niton Road, Rookley; Blythe Way, Shanklin, Silver Trees, Shanklin.

You can read more about the programme along with some Frequently Asked Questions on www.islandroads.com via the ‘current works’ tab.