A SECTION of St John’s Road will be made one-way as part of a three-month trial, in an effort to make the area safer for residents and pedestrians.
The trial begins on Monday 21 August and will see the lower part of the town road, between the junction with Parade Road and Cheapside, made northbound only – with temporary bollards to allow more space for walking.
Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet called it an ‘opportunity for us to gauge the impact of this change, which is something that’s been discussed for many years’.
He added: ‘The section of road near Cheapside is very narrow, as are the current pavements.
‘We hope that changes in layout at the Tower Road junction should mean that those coming from the top of the hill will re-route via Tower Road and Westmount. We anticipate that traffic patterns on Parade Road will also change.’
He said the government had written to people living in the area and that they would consider the ‘community benefits’ of a permanent scheme and impact on traffic, once the trial was over.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft, meanwhile, said the parish’s roads committee had been working with the government to ‘find ways of making the lower part of St John’s Road safer for residents, pedestrians and those who drive along this narrow section of main road’.
He added: ‘Traffic levels will be monitored before and during the trial so that we can assess impacts on the surrounding roads in this part of town. I encourage residents and interested Islanders to come to the exhibition at the Town Hall to find out more about the trial.’
However, concerns have been raised by an expert that the change could turn Parade Road into a ‘major artery’ and that resident parking permits could be removed.
Chartered transport planning professional Rob Hayward has distributed a leaflet to residents of the road, noting that in some places Parade Road is just as narrow as St John’s Road.
It also raises concerns about the impact of traffic on the Fig Tree House care home and Helvetia House School, both located on Parade Road. Mr Hayward notes in the leaflet that ‘these are some of the most vulnerable users of the roads and diverting additional traffic down Parade Road in areas they use is an accident waiting to happen’.
Speaking about the concerns raised in the leaflet, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham, who worked on the proposals alongside Deputy Inna Gardiner, said that she welcomed the trial.
She said diverting traffic would make St John’s Road safer for pedestrians, and that the trial was an opportunity to find out how this change would change traffic patterns.
After a three-month trial, the scheme will be reviewed until March next year.
A decision on whether to implement the scheme permanently is expected to be made between February and March 2024.
An exhibition presenting the scheme is scheduled to be held at the Town Hall today from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.
