'Chaos' on new Lezayre Road

Motorists baffled by cycle lane

A major scheme has been criticised as 'an accident waiting to happen' by road users.

Highway bosses have defended the £470,000 roadworks on Lezayre Road after a string of negative comments online.

Lezayre Road closed in early June, and reopened a week ago (3 August) - bringing to an end two months of diversions and travel disruption.

But the relief quickly turned to confusion when roads users found a new cycle lane had made the main road too narrow to overtake on.

Compounding that was the lack of a central white line in the roadway. 

Social media users have lambasted the project as 'embarrassing', a 'shambles', and one likely to cause 'chaos' in the north.

Now the Department of Infrastructure has responded, thanking commentators for their feedback.

It says the cycle lane is not two-way, and is only meant for cyclists heading towards Ramsey.

The lack of a centre line, it says, is intended as a traffic calming measure - one which they say has been proven to work in inner city London.

Drivers are asked not to cross into the cycle lane 'unless it is safe to do so'.