A3055 road
A3055 | |
---|---|
A3054 | |
West end | Totland |
Location | |
Country | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Road network | |
The A3055 is an A-Class Road on the Isle of Wight in Southern England. It forms the Southern portion of the circular around-the-Island A-class loop, the northern section being the A3054. The stretch along the south-west coast of the Island is formed by the Military Road.
Because of the road's relatively short length, there are no confirmatory signs with distances, although on a few direction signs at junctions there are distances to the next town. The final destination of the road (Freshwater/Totland or Ryde), in common with most UK roads, is not signed along the whole length of the route. As well as fitting with national practice, this is also because anybody wishing to travel from Totland to Ryde by road would do so via the North coast A3054, as it is much more direct.
Numerous landslips have affected the road in recent history, particularly around Undercliff Drive between Ventnor and Niton, which has resulted in sections being closed for repair on several occasions.
Military Road
The Military Road is the section of the A3055 regional coast road on the Isle of Wight which starts at Chale in the East and ends at Freshwater Bay in the West. The road has had to be in part relocated and repaired due to coastal erosion at various times since it was built in the late nineteenth century, and this continues today.[1][2][3]
The original Military Road was constructed as part of a defence network in about 1860 and remained as a private gated road for about 70 years. It served as a link between forts and barracks and fluctuated between private and military use with private rights vested in the Seely family. In 1930 or thereabouts, the landowner Sir Charles Seely donated what was then a narrow track to the Isle of Wight Council for public use. The original track was vulnerable to erosion and a new road was constructed further inland. Some vestiges of the original track are still visible along the coast from Shippards Chine to the north west of the slumped area. The construction of the new road took place in the early 1930 with the formal opening of the last section in March 1936.[4]
The road from Chale to
The section from
In Summer 2009 the Isle of Wight Council was warned that cliff slippage was endangering the road, and as of January 2010, portions of the cliff were only 10 metres (33 ft) from the road.[5] The harsh weather over winter 2009-10 caused a large number of landslides. By February 2010, another land slip on the section between Brook and Hanover car park, brought the top of the cliff to about 5 metres from the edge of the road. The coastal path was lost, and the council erected traffic barriers at one side of the road to alert drivers.[6]
A further landslide, on the same section, on 23 February 2010, brought the top of the cliff to virtually the edge of the road. The road was reduced to single file, with traffic light control.[7] Since then various meetings of the Isle of Wight Council have included discussion of the road's future. One view has been that the road is unrepairable, and should be closed, while parking and turning areas should be created at both ends.[8][dead link] More recently the possibility has been discussed of diverting the road and rebuilding as part of the county's refurbishment of all its roads under a Private finance initiative. The section of destroyed road was repaired, and a diversion has yet to be implemented.
Undercliff Drive
Undercliff Drive is the segment of the A3055 that runs the length of the
Another scheme designed to stabilise the road was started by
Leeson Road
Leeson Road, named after the 19th century Bonchurch resident Henry Beaumont Leeson, is the segment of the A3055 that runs from Ventnor, at the foot of St Boniface Down, along the clifftop above Bonchurch, the Bonchurch Landslips and the Devil's Chimney.
References
- ^ Military Road
- ^ Isle of Wight County Press - "Scenic Route Back In Business"
- ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "New Road To Be Dug Up For Repairs"". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- ^ IW Council Military Road exhibition panels, 2010[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Key road - act now or lose it". Isle of Wight County Press. Archived from the original on 19 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Military Road erosion worsens". Ventnor Blog. 15 February 2010. Archived from the original on 19 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ "Landslip hits Military Road". Isle of Wight County Press. Archived from the original on 25 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ "End of the road?". Isle of Wight County Press. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ^ Sally Perry (2 February 2007). "Undercliff Drive Debate". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Simon Perry (20 February 2007). "Heath Report: Details of High Point Rendel". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ a b "Road deal council deputy sacked". BBC News. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Simon Perry (29 November 2007). "Undercliff Drive: Police Called In". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Three Senior Isle of Wight Officers Suspended After 'Unlawful Action' Report". On the Wight. 20 February 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Sally Perry (26 March 2008). "Undercliff Drive: No Further Action by Police". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ a b Anna Lindsay (29 November 2007). "Has Undercliff saga eroded trust?". BBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Rebecca Tuck (10 October 2013). "Island Roads to start work on two major road strengthening schemes". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Simon Perry (10 February 2014). "Undercliff Drive: Dramatic landslip causes 20m movement (pictures & video)". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Ingham, James (Reporter) (17 February 2014). Landslip residents 'unable to move' due to insurance. BBC South Today (Television news report). Ventnor, Isle of Wight: BBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
Work was being carried out here to shore up this road, but after unusually heavy and prolonged rain the ground has collapsed, leaving a wide area dangerously unstable.
- ^ Sally Perry (20 August 2014). "Reports reveal 'Very High' risks identified prior to work starting on Undercliff Drive". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Isle of Wight homes evacuated as road crumbles". BBC News. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Isle of Wight landslip: Remaining homes evacuated". BBC News. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Isle of Wight's Undercliff Drive landslip road investigations". BBC News. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Sally Perry (7 July 2014). "Just discovered: Two houses in the Undercliff have been condemned (not just one)". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Undercliff Drive repair 'could cost £20m'". BBC News. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Isle of Wight Council Press Office (19 May 2015). "Council release plans for Undercliff Drive". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Sally Perry (19 May 2015). "Council's plans for Undercliff Drive appear to have glaring errors". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Temporary road for Undercliff Drive landslide residents". BBC News. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Simon Perry (7 July 2015). "Island Roads carried out work in SSSI without seeking permission. Natural England stop them". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Isle of Wight landslide temporary roadworks halted". BBC News. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Sally Perry (23 October 2014). "People Power strikes! Two fingers to the council as Islanders build their own new road on Undercliff Drive". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Wildlife trust unhappy about Undercliff road action". Isle of Wight County Press. 27 October 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Sally Perry (30 October 2014). "Wildlife Trust 'fully sympathetic' to Undercliff residents". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Isle of Wight residents make repairs to landslip-hit road". BBC News. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
We cannot allow vehicular access to the site. Therefore we will, as a matter of urgency, take the necessary steps to once again prevent vehicular access whilst we conduct a full safety assessment.
- ^ a b "Land swap agreed for new Undercliff Drive road". BBC News. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ "Bat ecological survey holds up new Undercliff Drive road". BBC News. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Claire Robertson (Island Roads) (18 February 2016). "Island Roads set out plans to reinstate access road for residents on Undercliff Drive". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Sally Perry (28 April 2016). "'Changing vision' for Undercliff Drive access road leads to need for planning application". On the Wight. Retrieved 9 May 2016.