RESURFACING works at Val Plaisant causing traffic mayhem in town have prompted the parish Constable to pledge to tackle school-rush congestion.
Hundreds of Islanders have found themselves facing “ridiculous” and “outrageously” lengthy delays since the works – which are set to last three weeks – began last weekend.
Delays have left some questioning why they were scheduled for term-time and whether King Charles III’s visit affected the decision to carry them out.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft, who is also an Assistant Infrastructure Minister, said roads were “at capacity”.
He added: “All it takes is a road closure or a breakdown, particularly at rush hour, then it just completely paralyses the system and you get huge queues. It is very vulnerable to anything going wrong.”
However, he added that the resurfacing work was “more than necessary” to improve the state of roads in town for motorists and cyclists and that Val Plaisant was “one of the worst” with “horrendous potholes”.
He further said the department “went out of their way” to minimise disruption and that capacity meant the works had to be carried out during term-time.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan added that the roadworks programme for the next four years was available online, adding: “We try and communicate the closures as best we can.”
According to the government website, as part of their “ongoing essential highway maintenance program”, Infrastructure and Environment are due to undertake resurfacing work along Val Plaisant from 15 June to 6 July.
It added: “These will take around three weeks to be completed and is split into four sections. We’ll undertake one section at a time and the remaining sections will be open.”
Mr Crowcroft said he was continuing to call for segregated bike lanes in St Helier, explaining that Islanders on bikes did not necessarily solve the problem, because these can cause long queues as well.
“Until those cycling facilities are provided, we’re not going to achieve as an island the switch to cycling,” he said.
He added: “There is still a large number of people driving to work to access their private, non-residential parking in the town centre.
“And then there is school traffic, which the Island has not really tackled. We have to tackle that and find ways to confront that challenge. In other countries, you’re not allowed to drive children to school,they have to use public transport, like in America. We need to look at solutions.”
