INFRASTRUCTURE chiefs hope to submit a planning application by August for a £17.5 million scheme to reconstruct the road and footpaths on Douglas seafront.
The scheme, which doesn’t include the seafront walkway, would see the double horse tram tracks removed and a single track, with passing places, being installed on the sea-ward side of the road, if Douglas Corporation gives its final agreement.
Department of Infrastructure director of highways Richard Pearson said it was important the work – last done in 1935 – was carried out as the view was it is the gateway to the Isle of Man.
He said at the moment the state of the seafront gave the impression the island was ‘impoverished and downbeat’.
‘The one we would like to see is well-maintained, high quality, modern and up and coming,’ he said.
The DoI has to get Tynwald approval for the work. Mr Pearson hopes that will take place early next year.
It was originally anticipated the work, to be done in phases between the Sea Terminal and Strathallan, would take nine years to complete. But Mr Pearson said he hoped it would be finished sooner.
The work also involves widening the footpath where it narrows on the Sea Terminal end of Loch Promenade, improving traffic flow by linking up the existing puffin crossings, and improving pedestrian access from the Sea Terminal to the town centre.
Speaking about the changes to the horse tram tracks, Mr Pearson said: ‘The double tracks take up quite a lot of space, which can be used for other things. At the moment passengers for the horse trams get on and off in the middle of the road which is not ideal in modern health and safety terms.’
He said it could also enable the Manx Electric Railway – which uses the same gauge track – to run far as the Villa Marina.
Part of the work will see the removal of the square patches where the fencing posts of the internment camp during the Second World War were.
Mr Pearson said the DoI had a proposal for a reminder of that period in the island’s history, along with other features along the seafront, which they were looking for sponsorship for.
There were 452 responses to the DoI’s consultation on its plans, which Mr Pearson said had been taken into consideration. He said it was expected it would take seven months for a decision to be made on the planning application, giving another opportunity for people to comment on the proposals.
l opinions@newsiom.co.im