Marown Commissioners have hit out at the planned rolling closure of the heritage trail to Peel.

The trail, on the old Peel railway line, will be closed in a series of rolling sections throughout the entirety of the summer while the government makes improvements to the path.

Under the plans, the rolling closures, which are due to begin today (Tuesday), will see sections closed to all traffic, including walkers, potentially until November 30, a total of seven months.

The closures will take place from the road crossing at Old Church, Marown, and continue along the rest of the line through to the power station in Peel.

The Department of Infrastructure said that the work being carried out was designed to make the former railway line between Douglas and Peel more accessible.

However, the local authority, which said it was informed of the closures only a week ago, said that it was disappointed at the length of time the work would take, a view it said was shared with residents.

And Marown residents took to the commissioners’ Facebook page with concerns raised over cyclists being forced onto the main roads and the prospect of sections being closed throughout the summer walking season.

Middle MHK Bill Shimmins agreed with the views of residents and the commissioners and called the closures ’frustrating’.

However, Mr Shimmins added: ’The end result will be much better but the closures are annoying as many people use the trail.’

The chairman of Marown Commissioners, Alex Toohey, told the Examiner: ’You can see from our page the various issues members of the public have.

’That said, I believe that the main cause for concern is the timing and length of the closure given the recent closures the trail has already had in the Glen Vine/Crosby area for the updating of sewage works.’

However a DoI spokesman said: ’Preparation work took place over the winter in the form of tree removal and ditching to enable to contractor to begin work on Monday, April 29.

’The majority of the route will be resurfaced using recycled quarry material, compacted at 2m-2.5m in width.

’Short tarmac sections will be included at the Memorial Fields in Crosby and behind the civic amenity site at St John’s.

’Structural work will involve building new cycle-friendly bridges, as well as trail furniture to slow cycles down where gates will be removed.

’The contractor will operate a traffic management plan during the project, and provide signage to alternatives routes.’

The department also committed to provide updates throughout the 26 weeks of works.