Braddan road traffic ban plan: Marine Drive scheme a 'no-brainer'

Vehicles can still use Marine Drive but it has been closed to through traffic for 44 years

A proposal to shut an Isle of Man costal road to traffic to encourage exercise is a "no-brainer", a cycling organisation has said.

Under the government plan, vehicles could be banned from nearly 3 miles (4.8km) of Marine Drive in Braddan.

The road has been shut to through traffic since 1977 and is a popular route for walkers and cyclists.

Isle of Man Cycling's Rob Holden said the plans could make the area more open and "accessible to all".

"I would like to see it as an inclusive thing and not limit people, it is just that it is limiting vehicles," he added.

Parts of the original railway remain on Marine Drive

First constructed in 1896 as part of a rail network, work to turn Marine Drive into a road began in the 1950s.

Land slippage forced authorities to permanently shut a section of it in 1977.

Traffic is still able to use large sections of the road, which connects Douglas Head to Port Soderick, and it remains fully open to pedestrians and cyclists.

Mr Holden said the Covid-19 pandemic had put a "big spotlight on what space means to us and the impact vehicles can potentially have on that".

He added that creating a traffic-free space for people to use felt "like a bit of a no-brainer" and it could "make life much easier" for people with limited mobility if proper facilities were provided.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Baker has previously said a total ban on traffic could be "beneficial", but the plan would not go ahead if opposition to it was "overwhelming".