Yahoo News Latest on efforts to reopen landslip-hit roads in Ventnor
The Isle of Wight Council insists it is making "steady progress" with plans to reopen routes in and out of Ventnor, after revealing boreholes to help determine whether Leeson Road can reopen have not yet been drilled.
Works for the 85-metre boreholes could begin in August, the council said.
Leeson Road - the main road between Shanklin and Ventnor - has been shut following a major landslide in December 2023.
Evidence from the boreholes will be gathered and analysed, and will help the council determine whether to reopen the road fully or partially, in the autumn.
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Data will add to that already collected and will assist Island Roads and the council, who are looking at having an early warning system installed.
Work on possible models for an early warning system is already underway.
Meanwhile, safety work to reopen another road - Gills Cliff Road - will begin shortly.
The road has been closed since a significant rockfall wiped out traffic lights in February.
Forthcoming work will see large sections of the rockface covered by heavy duty steel netting, designed to prevent further debris from falling.
Gills Cliff Road in February. (Image: County Press)
A council spokesman said: “We fully understand the problems being faced by the Ventnor community as a result of recent events and we have been working hard with numerous agencies and partners to find resolutions to what are difficult and highly technical issues.
“Our intention remains to re-open all these important routes as soon as we are confident it is safe to do so and I am glad to say that while there is still work to be done and issues to be overcome, we are making steady progress.
“The progress made this week by Southern Water at Newport Road is the most immediate bit of good news but we are also moving forward on the other more complex issues at Leeson Road and Gills Cliff Road also.
"This work will continue and I can assure residents that we are all pulling together with the common aim of improving access in the town as soon as it is possible."
Island Roads added it is working with Ventnor Fringe organisers to assist with any specific transportation issues in the run up to the event.
