Is the rail tunnel available as an emergency tunnel for a new parallel road tunnel?
And Zermatt is really on its uppers these days since never allowing private cars to become established in the town!
Steep shouldn't be an issue except for on the financial side - look at the new A465 Heads of the Valleys road in Wales, some of the sections are an insane feat.
Are you proposing a helicopter shuttle to Ventnor?
The rail tunnel is in decent ground, looks like it goes through the chalk solely. It wouldnt be that challenging to build a road or road tunnel to Ventnor. Its the geological problems with Ventnor itself which are the big concern which will require much ongoing work. I cannot imagaine much money being thrown at access issues over any massive stability improvements of the town.
Perhaps they could relocate some of the housing towards artificial land built out from the least nice parts of the beach.
That's a decent idea, especially if a road tunnel was built parallel.
Well, there’s an important water main along the Monsal Trail in the Peak District, including through the six tunnels. Admittedly the tunnels were formerly double track and the main is to one side with the very popular shared walking, cycling, wheelchair and equestrian path through the centre.
I doubt a local authority would invest in such a scheme, as it only fixes part of the threat of Ventnor and the vicinity being cut off from the network. I find investment in Britain, especially public investment, tends to be all or nothing.
This is neither easy nor cheap.
No point in stabilising the town if you can't get to it, and harder to build anything if you can't truck stuff in along the A-road.
Sounds like something off a Dahir Insaat video, but I admire the detail you've gone to in engineering such a line.
Oh to have the skills to produce such high-quality computer-generated presentations, although I would say their ideas illustrated are usually far wilder and far-fetched than mine here, and sometimes disturbing!
A funicular was what Ventnor needed to complement the railway. Now, a town bus service would do fine - just like Shanklin has the Shanklin Steamer.
Maybe as I drew it but that would only also be if all 3 met in the same place. The point is to build on more stable ground. The Leeson and Shanklin roads could meet ~halfway up with more gradual routes, then a further junction and climb to connect that road to Down Ln.
Hahahaha indeed
Indeed this is exactly what was proposed when the railway line was under construction. I may even have mentioned this in an earlier post on this thread.
sorry, thought you were referring to a trio of cable cars? This would also have worked, but wouldn't want to be on that in bad weather lol.
No, that was HSTed. I missed the crucial word "aerial" when I replied to their post and inadvertently misled you. I was always taking about funiculars.
With last month’s landslip at Bonchurch and emergency roadworks on Ocean View Road in Ventnor blocking 2 of 3 access roads into the town, a local resident shares his view on what could be next for Ventnor, with a suggestion of restoring the railway line into the town.
Urgent calls for Ventnor railway reinstatement as town faces geological threats
Rejection of Shanklin-Ventnor railway bid ignites debate on Ventnor's geology and futureonthewight.com
Up until now, I’ve always assumed the Ventnor Tunnel can never be used for transport purposes again, but with the recent landslips and climate change making extreme weather more likely, it is a matter of time before something will have to be done to ensure Ventnor isn’t cut off from the rest of the Island. Reopening the the tunnel would probably be the most practical option as the infrastructure is already there, while the water pipe can always be moved. Restoring the railway from Shanklin makes the most sense although I’m also wondering if the tunnel could be compatible for road traffic as another option?
If rail is the only link then Ventnor dies. It must have a safe road link to survive
Not necessarily the case. Monitoring equipment is in place, if there’s no Earth movement for six weeks the road will be considered for reopening. That was five weeks ago so an announcement either way should presumably be made in the next week or two.
Yeap, in hindsight even preserving the route and sites would have made it more viable. As someone who lived in Ventnor from 1979 through 1995 I saw its relative decline vs Sandown and Shanklin. I actually did my very first driving lessons with my dad on the industrial estate that sits on the station site when the units were closed on Sundays, living on the road near the station.
