Travel disruption could continue for months when work begins on a new roundabout on the main road to the south of the island next year.

A one-way system affecting access to the airport is to be introduced during the roundabout’s construction.

Infrastructure Minister Dr Michelle Haywood said the project at Balthane, which will finally create a long-awaited by-pass around the village of Ballasalla, will begin in early 2026 and take between six and nine months to complete.

During the construction, a through route will be maintained for traffic heading north from Castletown and the south, past the airport.

But a diversion route will be put in place for traffic heading south, including to the airport.

Traffic will be diverted at the roundabout by the Whitestone pub in Ballsalla along Bridge Road, Cross Fourways, along the A3 and then back onto the A5 at Castletown Corner.

A temporary entrance into Balthane from the new bypass road is also planned in order to maintain access to more than 200 businesses and storage units on the industrial estate.

Details were announced at a public drop-in session held on Tuesday this week at the village hall in Ballasalla.

The project is set to be carried out in two phases with northbound traffic initially continuing along the A5 through the village past Glashen Hill.

During phase two, the traffic would be directed up the new bypass.

Infrastructure Minister Dr Haywood told local democracy reporter Emma Draper: ‘It’s a major project that’s going to cause disruption around the area.

‘We are not using traffic lights but we are putting in a one-way traffic flow.

‘This will be the thing that will perhaps cause the most disruption - you will be able to travel from the airport towards Ballasalla but you won’t be able to travel south past the airport.’