Island Roads is reminding landowners of the need to ensure mud from their property or business does not cause a highway hazard.
This comes after mud on the highway caused by traffic movements from adjoining land meant a section of the main Yarmouth to Newport Road was found to be unsafe and had be closed during Wednesday’s morning rush hour while it was cleaned.
The problem was so severe that specialist cleaning equipment was needed to return the highway to a safecondition.
The council has the powers to pursue relevant parties for the cost involved in removing the material where it has had to do so in order to maintain the safety of the highway
Kevin Burton, Island Roads’ network manager said: “First and foremost having large quantities of mud, silt or dirt on the highway will cause a safety hazard to road users. Our first priority is to keep the network safe and on Wednesday morning we had no option but to close the road in order to carry out the extensive cleaning required.
“This is a much used stretch of road between two principal towns that had to be closed at a busy time. We share the frustrations of the many road users who were inconvenienced.”
“It is not the first time this year we have had to close roads to clear away mud and debris that has come from adjoining land. We will be writing to the NFU and the Country Landowners Association asking them to help us – and the traveling public – by making their members aware of their responsibilities and legal obligations in terms of keeping the network safe whilst undertaking their business operations. We are not suggesting either CLA or the NFU members are responsible for any of these recent incidents but these organisations have previously been extremely helpful in assisting us in getting message out into the rural community.”
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