There will be no disabled pedestrian access to a popular Isle of Wight seafront during major upcoming works.

At the start of September, the Rene Howe Walk — a pedestrian footway around Ventnor Cascades — will be closed for 27 weeks so 140m of railings can be replaced and the walkway resurfaced.

It was announced at a public meeting last night (Tuesday), no alternative pedestrian route will be signposted to direct foot traffic down to Ventnor Esplanade.

That is because, Island Roads said, there are no accessible routes to the seafront, as all other ways down have steps, and Shore Hill, the road that runs through the Cascades, has no dedicated footpath.

If mobility is not an issue, there are paths people can take.

Fears were raised at the meeting that pedestrians would just walk down Shore Hill, mixing with the vehicle traffic, causing 'chaos' and accidents would happen.

Island Roads said it would not be able to put temporary barriers on Shore Hill as it would stop vehicular access and if it were to close the road to make it a pedestrian walkway, the sea wall restoration work around Eastern Cliff Esplanade would not be able to continue.

A suggestion was made, which Island Roads said it would speak to the Isle of Wight Council about, to have a shuttle service taking pedestrians up and down the Cascades.

Others were concerned the lack of signposting would impact businesses and the end of the tourist season would be disrupted by the work.

Island Roads said there was no easy way to deliver the project and doing the work now was the lesser of two evils.

If the work goes as planned, the walkway should be open before Easter.

Inspections last year determined the current railings on the Rene Howe Walk are not fit for purpose, as the cast iron is sheared and heavily broken.

Isle of Wight County Press: Ventnor Cascades and Rene Howe Walk

It is now becoming untenable to fix small sections of it.

If it left the railings, Island Roads said it risked a longer, emergency closure if something were to happen.

Concerns were raised about the proposed vertical railings to replace the current horizontal ones, but the project manager said they needed to complete the work to modern safety standards.