More of the seafront’s arches under the A259 are to be strengthened from as early as next year, with tenants moved out while work is completed.
A batch of arches in front of King’s Road playground and another stretching from Shelter Hall to the volleyball court will be reinforced.
Earlier this month, transport minister Mark Harper tweeted a diagram suggesting the project would be one of dozens funded using money from the cancellation of HS2.
However, the government now says this list was “illustrative” and so it is still not clear exactly when work will begin.
The council also did not say whether the road above will have to close, as was the case during the previous phase of arch strengthening, including Shelter Hall, was in progress.
And it also said it does not yet know how long these new phases – four and five – will take to complete, although it’s hoped they will begin in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
Phases one and two, to the east and west of the i360, took place in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and did not require road closures.
The chair of the council’s Transport and Sustainability Committee, Councillor Trevor Muten, said: “Most of the arches that sit under our A259 seafront road are more than 130 years old. It’s well known that many of them are coming towards the end of their serviceable life and need work to either strengthen or replace them.
“For many years now we have been monitoring the condition of the arches closely through a rolling programme of inspections and structural assessments.
“Our business case for the work for the latest phase of strengthening work has been submitted. The timeline for the works commencing will be dependent on the council securing funding.
“We’re excited about the improvements this work could potentially bring in terms of new opportunities for new and existing tenants of business premises under the arches.”
Tenants of the arches have been told about the impending works, and that they will need to move out. The council says it is continuing to liaise with tenants.
The first two phases of the arch strengthening took place as the i360 was being constructed.
As these neared completion in 2014, an arch occupied by the Fortune of War pub collapsed in 2014, leaving a hole in the A259 above.
Soon after this was repaired, work on the Grade II listed Shelter Hall and arches to its east started, taking until 2020 to finish.
The upcoming phases have been in development since at least 2019. Last October, they was named by the Treasury as one of 100 projects which it was hoped funding could be fast tracked for, with the aim of starting construction this year.
