Road safety on Richmond Hill could be improved if this month's sitting of Tynwald agrees to a compulsory purchase of land in the area.

Richmond Hill has one of the highest road traffic accident records on the Island and it's hoped the proposed scheme will address this.

Measures include extending the southbound overtaking lane towards the top of the hill, a new access for the Home of Rest for Old Horses and a new surface water drainage system.

However, the plan requires the acquisition of land owned by third parties.

Whilst agreement has been reached in principle with land belonging to the Horses Home, the owner of land near Rosehill Cottage has failed to agree on a price and believes the land to be worth more than ten times the ?6,000 being offered by the Government valuer.

Transport Minister David Anderson says with such a disparity in the figures there was little chance of them reaching a compromise and he's bound to comply with a treasury valuation of the land.

Senior design engineer for the project, Paul Barnett, hopes the 42 week project - which should start in February - can be carried out with as little disruption to motorists as possible.