Wednesday 13 May 2015
Open Lines, Guernsey Press Enquiry:
Dear Sir
I absolutely give up with our Environment Committee and particularly its minister. I know Mrs Burford would like us all to go around on bicycles with a solar panel on our crash helmet but it isn't going to happen.
In the GP of 6 April I read Mrs Burford's comments "it would appear that some congestion has occurred as a result of the new layout (on the sea front) being treated in some ways like a zebra crossing".
What a fantastic surprise when the road has been reduced to one lane, a give way sign has been installed and pedestrians, for the first time, absolutely believe it's their right of way with traffic being subservient to them. Short of the real thing turning up what else has to be done to make it a zebra crossing?
Equally, and coming from the north, people will take months to realise the left lane takes you only to the Crown Pier and, when they do, traffic chaos on the roundabout will double.
Give us all strength. The sea front in town is only going to avoid gridlock if people deliberately avoid it thanks to the Environment Committee. Does that committee not understand that when you take two lanes and make it one you at least halve the traffic speed and that's without installing more impediments.
All our Environment Committee is achieving is making it far more difficult for ordinary people to conduct their lives. I know it won't last too long as the people will object at the point of voting but it would be much nicer if those concerned waved the white flag now and saved the future cost of putting their wrongs right.
I can only assume the Environment Committee, lead by Mrs Burford, wants St Peter Port to die as a shopping centre. Her Committee is doing everything in its power to make that happen. I absolutely fear its next move.
Your correspondent raises a number of concerns regarding the recent traffic management arrangements that have been introduced along The Quay. They relate entirely to the potential impact that these changes will have on motorists in terms of journey times and it is suggested that the Environment Department is achieving nothing other than to make it more difficult for ordinary people to conduct their lives.
Environment Department Response:
There is no acknowledgement in the letter of the need to ensure the safety of pedestrians or mention of the increasing number of pedestrians that are expected to use the informal pedestrian crossing and other signalised crossings in the area to access the shops and Town seafront facilities this summer.
The Environment Department is mandated not only to deal with the management of traffic on the Island's roads network but also to ensure the safety of all road users. Historically, The Town Quay has always been an exceptionally busy stretch of road with in the order of 20,000 vehicle movements a day having to be managed along with pedestrian movements that can exceed 5,000 per day on busier days during the summer. On 2 April 2015 over 4,000 pedestrians were counted using the informal crossing at the Quay between the hours of 0900 and 16.30 and it is anticipated that at least another 2,000 will have used the signalised crossing at the Crown Pier.
It is inevitable therefore that compromises have to be made in order to ensure that pedestrians and motorist can co-exist in what is an exceptionally busy and vibrant part of St. Peter Port. Having looked at the current arrangements along The Quay in some detail, it was agreed that changes were needed in order to improve road safety in the area. One option was to remove the informal crossing altogether but it was noted that this had been tried in the past but pedestrians simply ignored the fact and tried to step over the chain link that was installed in an attempt to take the shortest route possible into Town, regardless of the dangers. The chain link was subsequently removed as the risk of a person falling into the path of an oncoming vehicle when trying to step over the chain link was deemed to present a higher risk than the previous arrangements. The newly introduced layout has now removed a further element of risk by reducing traffic flows to a single lane in each direction and by creating a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road.
The installation of a signalised crossing has also been considered but unless this is implemented as part of a major review of signalisation arrangements in the vicinity of The Quay, then major traffic congestion is almost certainly going to occur. Once again, previous experiments of this nature have proven this to be the case.
This left the Department with two options, a formal zebra crossing or the changes that have now been implemented. With the anticipated increase in pedestrians using this area in the summer a zebra crossing would also have caused major traffic management issues as pedestrians would have had priority at all times, hence the decision to leave priority through the crossing point with motorists but to make the area much safer for pedestrians wishing to cross.
Now that pedestrians and motorists alike are getting used to the new arrangements, observations of driver behaviour at the site would indicate that approximately one in three drivers are now stopping to allow pedestrians to cross whereas initially almost every vehicle would stop. Similarly the new road layout along North Esplanade will become more familiar but anyone using the left hand lane when exiting the North Beach Roundabout will still be able to change lanes providing that they indicate and await a suitable gap in traffic to safely execute this manoeuvre.
As with any Town Centre there will always be occasions when traffic flows are heavy but in general The Quay should continue to be able to cope with traffic flows on all but the busiest days of the year.
If the traffic management trial is successful then there are also plans to widen the pedestrian walkway on the marina side of the Quay and provide additional seating and planters to further enhance the attractiveness and usability of this part of Town and to allow for al fresco facilities on the landward side of the road. This would take place when the Quay is scheduled for routine resurfacing by Public Services.
Contact Information:
Karl Guille, Traffic and Transport Services Manager
Environment Department
Tel: 01481 243400
