The Mountain Road was closed at least 31 times in the past two years, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

The response to our request states that the police also have the power to shut the road, meaning some closures are not listed in the Department of Infrastructure response.

The closures range from motorbike racing, emergency weather closures, repair work for the Manx Electric Railway, cycling and for manufacturers Audi and Honda.

During 2016, the DoI records show the road was closed four times from August onwards, for the Festival of Motorcycling (FoM) races, Rally Isle of Man on September 17, the ’removal of furniture’ from the TT course after the FoM on September 22 and the PokerStars Rally Road Races on November 16.

The are no records for emergency road closures in 2016.

In 2017 the road was closed 15 times, on March 1 to 5 for electronic sign maintenance from 9.15am to 4.30pm; on March 13, all day for overhead cable repairs for the MER; from April 8 to April 23 for resurfacing works; April 29 from 9am to 6pm for the classic cars sprint and hill climbs road races, and May 13 from 9.30am to midday for Cyclefest.

Following the TT closure that year, the road closed on June 24 from 10.45am to 4pm for Canaccord Genuity Manx International Cycle Sportive and again the next day for the British Cycling National Road Championships from 9.30am to 7pm and it was then closed for ’patching, hedge trimming and sweeping’ on August 8 and 9 from 6.30pm to 10pm.

The Mountain Road was then closed for the FoM from August 19 to September 2.

Following this, the Mountain Road closed on September 16 from 12.50pm to 5.20pm for Rally Isle of Man and on September 22 from 9.30am to 4.30pm for the removal of TT course furniture. It was closed in December last year from December 8 to 13 due to heavy snowfall and ice.

So far in 2018, the road has been closed 11 times, including on January 2 for high winds and February 2 for the removal of an electrical sign.

The road shut for patching and lining work from April 10 to April 12; for Cyclefest on April 21 from 9.30am to 12pm and 3.30pm to 5pm, while the class cars sprint and hill climbs races shut the road on April 28 from 9am to 6pm.

During TT this year, the road was closed for Honda UK on June 2 from 7am to 8am and June 3 from 7.30am to 8.30am, although it is unclear as to why this was done.

The road was also closed for Audi’s launch of its new Audi TT from July 12 to July 19, excluding Sunday, July 15, from 12.30pm to 4pm. Isle of Man Newspapers has previously reported the island received no money from Audi for this closure.

Emergency repairs at Brandywell also closed the road on July 13.

The Canaccord Genuity Manx International Cycle Sportive closed the road on August 5 from 8.45am to 2pm.

And finally there was an emergency closure on August 7 and 8 from 6.30pm for FoM preparation work.