Isle Of Man Residents Threaten TT Course

Isle of Man TT events are, without a doubt, a huge tourism draw every single year. They’re exhilarating for fans around the globe, regardless of attendance. Of course, they’re even more so if you can make the pilgrimage to witness them for yourself in person. Still, we’re all humans—and as such, we all collectively hate and can totally sympathize with local hatred of traffic snarls. 

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That’s why local government official Andres Jessopp has been discussing changing the TT course with the IOM Department of Infrastructure. Isle of Man Today reported that Jessopp, who is chairman of Braddan Parish Commissioners, had heard from residents about frustrations regarding the current TT access road. 

“I have been in discussions with the Department of Infrastructure with suggestions made to me that the route of the TT course should be changed,” Jessopp said.

“That would require a certain amount of infrastructure work as well. But then that would enable the main road to continue in use which means there would be access to Snugborough housing and Snugborough trading estate,” he continued. 

The road in question is a single-track one, and residents often find it congested and frustrating, because it’s the only way to get from point to point while the TT road is closed. If you’re reading this and you regularly ride or drive in a congested area, you know that sinking feeling of spending an hour or more in traffic that would probably take you 20 minutes, at most, if there was no congestion. That’s this problem, as well. 

Currently, the Department of Infrastructure has committed to a new, two-way carriageway by the year 2022—but that’s not exactly tomorrow. As a result, angry residents want to know what can be done about perhaps rerouting the TT course in an as-yet unspecified way to alleviate these traffic problems. 

It’s unclear what—if anything—might come of this. Regardless, it will be interesting to see if the course ultimately changes layout not over safety concerns, but over much more mundane traffic congestion ones instead.

Photo: Isle of Man

Sources: IOM Today, Moto.IT