Island Roads says five nights of work on Fairlee Road, from September 26, will not clash with 12 weeks of likely disruption, caused by Southern Water's pipe replacement, which is taking place further along the main road to Newport.

Fairlee Road is among a number of routes in line for improvement, in a programme due to start later this month and last until mid-October.

Brading Road, Ryde and Newport Road, Niton are also among the areas being targeted.

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Island Roads says its improvements will require full road closures, so the busiest sections, including on Fairlee Road, will be completed at night to minimise inconvenience.

Work on Fairlee Road will run for five nights from September 26, between 7.30pm and 6am, leaving rush hour times clear.

It will be on a different stretch to Southern Water's work which started today (Tuesday), outside Medina College, and which itself will require a closure for three nights (although this is understood to be on the leisure and school site itself, not on Fairlee Road).

Island Roads says work has been programmed to take place outside of the main holiday season, when roads are less busy.

It says the majority of the highway improvement work was completed in the first seven years of the Highways PFI, but ongoing annual maintenance is required and warns the exceptionally hot and dry summer has put additional strain on the network.

Where will Island Roads' work be taking place on the Isle of Wight?

Around 18,000 square metres of highway will be improved, at:

  • Fairlee Road and the Racecourse (five nights)
  • Brading Road (three nights)
  • Newport Road, Niton (five days)
  • Bowcombe Road, Newport, (three days)
  • Little Whitehouse Road, Calbourne (three  days)

Island Roads construction manager Keith Gourlay said: "This is a significant amount of work on some of our most-used sections of highway, so there will inevitably be some disruption to road users during the programme.

"However, we have to ensure the road network is kept up to standard, and this year the drought has put additional stress on the network which we have to address as well.

"We have scheduled much of the work at night-time and also outside of the main tourism season to reduce disruption and we thank residents in advance for their understanding."