Transport and Technical Services staff dug up the strips of raised granite earlier this week and have now tarmacked over the scars in the road.
St Mary Deputy David Johnson said the decision was made to remove the traffic-calming measure after the parish received complaints about the noise they generate when cars drive over them.
Asked if he believes TTS should have considered potential noise issues before the strips were laid, Deputy Johnson said: ‘You’re probably right.
‘We have had a call from a parishioner who raised the point that she was being disturbed because of noise. I went up there and, to be fair, the noise they generate is considerable.’
The three-phase village-improvement scheme, which aims to make the parish more pedestrian friendly, is no stranger to controversy. In April, scores of Islanders ridiculed the project when a section of raised road resembling a roundabout – and made from French granite – was constructed outside St Mary’s Church.
Many called the structure ‘a waste of money’ and some questioned the safety of using granite paving on a road, especially for motorcyclists.
And according to former St Mary Deputy John Le Bailly, the latest development has left parishioners ‘up in arms’.
‘People are mystified as to what has happened. Parishioners were not told the strips were going to be dug up. We are not getting the information from the parish.
‘They are wondering why it has been removed. I remember TTS said they tend to be noisy so they tend to put rumble-strips away from houses.’
Deputy Johnson added that before they were removed TTS had drafted in a company to ‘test’ the noise generated by several rumble-strips laid in the area.
‘The idea is that they reduce people’s speed but it seems people were just ignoring them and creating a noise,’ he said.
Deputy Johnson said he did not know how much it cost to remove the strips, but added: ‘It was a fairly easy job and done very quickly.’
Speaking about the scheme in general, the politician said Islanders’ initial frustrations have ‘settled down’.
‘People have dropped their speed and commented how attractive the area is now and people can see it is a village, not just a through-way. The work should not be judged in isolation.’
St Mary Constable Juliette Gallichan, who is out of the Island, and TTS were unable to comment.
