Work is expected to close a road in Ramsey for months.
A redevelopment scheme will start next week to ‘ensure it is capable of meeting traffic requirements for the next 40 years’.
The work includes reconstructing the failing carriageway on Bircham Avenue, upgrading the drainage system and resurfacing the footways.
The Department of Infrastructure scheme will get under way on Monday, September 14, and is expected to take 31 weeks to complete. The scheme will require the closure of Bircham Avenue due to depth of excavation and width of the road.
The main routes into Ramsey’s commercial centre and quayside via Lezayre Road will not be affected.
Businesses in the vicinity of the scheme will remain open and access will be maintained for customers.
The department’s highway services division says the 200-metre section of road on Bircham Avenue, between its junctions with Lezayre Road and Poyll Dooey Road, is in urgent need of full reconstruction.
During work on the highway, Manx Utilities will install a large water trunk main, while the drainage system will be upgraded to improve highway drainage on Lezayre Road as well as Bircham Avenue.
Footways will be re-kerbed and resurfaced, while new tactile crossing points will be installed to assist pedestrians.
Traffic lights will be in place for approximately 8 weeks at the junction of Poyll Dooey and Station Road while the drainage and outfall works are completed in partnership with private sector contractors.
John Houghton MHK, the politician responsible for highway services, said: ‘Bircham Avenue needs to be redeveloped as a matter of priority and this scheme will greatly enhance the carriageway. The opportunity is also being taken to install new service mains and make essential improvements to the drainage system.
‘I’d like to thank the residents of Ramsey in advance for their cooperation and understanding while this important work takes place.’
