As the first phase of the Coppins Bridge signal upgrade project nears completion, Island Roads would like to thank motorists for their understanding during work so far.

As communicated previously, Island Roads on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council, is currently undertaking a major project to install new traffic lights and pedestrian crossings on Coppins Bridge and its approaches.

To complete the first phase, the new energy-efficient lights at the St George’s entrance onto Coppins Bridge are due to be commissioned tomorrow (Friday) allowing work to move on to the second phase – the Coppins Bridge / Barton Road pedestrian crossing – on Monday.

This phase lasts until Friday December 3 and will involve temporary pedestrian lights and the carriageway being reduced to two lanes.

After this phase, the project will pause until January 7 so as not to affect Christmas shopping period.

Steve Ashman, Island Roads service director said: “We are pleased that the first phase has been delivered on time and would like to thank residents for their understanding during this work.

“We have sought to minimise disruption to road users but, as we all know, Coppins Bridge is an extremely busy junction which is very sensitive to changes in traffic movement and there have been periods when it has taken motorists longer to navigate through the gyratory. Of course we are sorry for any inconvenience.

“We routinely monitor traffic flows and following recent feedback, we now have our contractors Siemens on site today (Thursday) to see if we can improve flows during the remainder of the current phase. We will continue to do all we can to keep traffic moving while we complete this important upgrade.”