BUSINESSES in St Aubin are counting the cost of the unscheduled closure of the main road through the village.
Mont Les Vaux has been closed since last Thursday after part of the road surface collapsed, with the government anticipating that sewer repairs will be completed by the end of this week.
Custodio Gomes, manager of Uno Café and Restaurant, said that trade had been down by up to 50%, with the drop being particularly noticeable on weekdays.
‘It’s been a nightmare, especially after the long closure earlier in the year, and I haven’t been able to get any answers from the government,’ he said.
Frank De Jesus, from the Seafish Café, said: ‘It’s pathetic – the road is a vital thoroughfare and it’s definitely having an effect, both for our customers coming here and for our drivers who do the deliveries that make up a lot of our business.’
There were also reports that moped riders had been using the lower section of the Railway Walk as a means of avoiding the closed section of road.
Another business owner remarked ruefully that ‘parking’s a lot easier in the village than usual’.
Rue De Haut, which runs from the Somerville Hotel to Noirmont, has temporarily become one-way in an upward direction to help with traffic flow.
A government spokesperson said: ‘Investigations into subsidence is ongoing, however we have found the initial depression was caused by a collapsed rainwater sewer near to St Aubin on the Hill Church. We have subsequently confirmed that the rainwater sewer is disused, however there was still a rainwater connection into it, which has been diverted to the live surface water sewer.
‘The disused sewer has now been decommissioned. During the course of the sewer repair, a water main was discovered to be leaking, so this was also repaired.
‘The work is being led by the IHE Drainage Operations Team, in conjunction with IHE Highways and ADM Asphalt. We anticipate that the sewer repairs will be complete by the end of this week.’
