MONTHS of misery for motorists has begun today as one of the biggest roadworks schemes seen in the island in recent years gets underway.
But the disruption caused by the £4.3 million scheme to reconstruct the switchback Peel Road will be four weeks less than feared - down from 80 weeks to 76.
Highways chiefs have announced that the first phase of the project, involving the closure of Pulrose Road for bridge strengthening and junction improvement works, has been reduced from the predicted nine weeks to five weeks following an engineering review – and a request by Infrastructure Minister David Cretney MHK.
This phase of the Peel Road scheme will see the bridge strengthened using concrete.
To speed up the works, additional concrete formwork equipment has been sourced so that several concrete pours can be done at the same time instead of one after the other.
Improvements are also being made to the Pulrose Road-Peel Road junction, with the radius eases to accommodate larger vehicles. The size of the team working on this key junction has also been increased to speed up the works.
During the Pulrose Road closure a pedestrian route will be maintained. There will be changes to bus services with all journeys on routes 1, 2, 4A, 4B, 11, 12, 12A diverting via Quarter Bridge between Peel Road and Spring Valley and therefore will not serve the National Sports Centre.
Services 21, 21A, 21B from Douglas will divert via Quarter Bridge and Groves Road to serve the NSC but journeys departing Anagh Coar will divert from Spring Valley via Quarter Bridge to Peel Road and will therefore not serve the NSC. Diverted buses serve all stops en-route.
This work will allow Pulrose Road and Groves Road to be used as a diversion route for westbound traffic while the major works are carried out on Peel Road. Once the work on Pulrose Road is complete the main work on Peel Road will start and is due to last 62 weeks.
During this time there will be a one-way system into Douglas on the Quarter Bridge to Pulrose Road section while the section between Pulrose Road and Circular Road will still have two way traffic, one lane in each direction.
During the works the car park next to the Quarterbridge pub will become the site compound.
There will be alternative parking for pub patrons in the car park between the pub and the NSC entrance on New Castletown Road.
Patients and staff of the Hyperbaric Chamber are also asked to park in this car park, with a shuttle bus service operating daily, 7am to 3.30pm.