Island roads to get studs replaced over coming months

New 'cats' eyes' for nine routes across IoM

A scheme to replace and install road studs on a number of the Island's roads is to get underway over the coming months.

Better known as cats' eyes the safety feature is generally installed on roads without street lighting present.

Colas (IOM) Ltd has been appointed by the Department of Infrastructure to remove broken or buried studs and install new ones.

This year’s contract covers approximately 80 kilometres of carriageway and will involve the removal of about 1,600 buried or defective road studs and the installation of about 8,500 new road studs on nine routes.

Sites chosen include those that have been resurfaced in recent times that have yet to have road studs reinstalled.

The road studs have been designed and manufactured in the UK by 3M using recycled materials.

They are surface mounted and are fixed in place using bituminous hot melt system with a short cure time.

This type of road stud is the industry standard in the UK and has already been in use on the Island for a number of years.

The studs that are being replaced are generally the older metal type that are fixed below the surface of the carriageway; these will be recovered and sent for recycling.

The department is developing plans to undertake further road stud installation/replacement works over the next two or three years beyond the scope of the current contract.

Depending on the location, or characteristics of a particular road, the work will require either a closure or traffic management.

The first road included in this programme is Fisher's Hill on the A5.

A daytime closure (9.30am to 3.30pm) will be in place between 15 and 19 July.

It is anticipated that only two of these days will be required.

The order has been made for up to a week to take into account the possibility of weather delays as the new road studs have to be installed in dry conditions.