By Fiona Walker
WELL, here we are, slap bang in the middle of autumn – season of mellow fruitfulness and all that. The leaves are tumbling gently from the trees, the mild evenings are slowly drawing in, the bracken has turned to gold and migrating birds are tweeting a final fond farewell.
Who am I kidding?
The trees are already looking pretty bare due to the constant winds we’ve experienced recently. The evenings are dark and miserable, the rain has been incessant, pathways are thick with mud, and wildlife with any common sense is going into hibernation early, in anticipation of another long and weary winter. (Don’t trust the last few days –they were just a taster of what could have been.)
And among all these autumnal joys, another annual treat – the season of incessant roadworks is upon us.
At this time of year, you don’t have to drive very far before you come across some new excavation, along with its traffic diversions or delays. It makes for a frustrating commute.
Please don’t think that I’m complaining that the roadworks are carried out at this time of year; the summer rush is over, and – for the moment at least – schools are on half-term, so the rush hour traffic is somewhat reduced.
What bothers me is the heavy-handed manner in which these things are done nowadays. Wherever there is the slightest intrusion into the road, traffic lights are immediately erected and with excessive time delays when the lights alternate between directions, frustration mounts.
In the not-too-distant past, temporary traffic lights were only brought into use when the roadworks were truly intrusive; for all other works, drivers were trusted to negotiate the obstacles they posed with common sense and a bit of consideration for others. And that worked, because, on the whole, Jersey drivers are a pretty thoughtful lot and tend to allow others through any hindrances without too long a wait.
Now, the signs warning of impending traffic disruption often cause as much of an obstruction as the work itself.
I’m beginning to think that there’s a secret stash of temporary traffic lights hidden in the depths of some government building, with instructions that they need to be put into use as frequently as possible in order to justify their acquisition.
When we were in France earlier this year, we came across a stretch of road being re-tarmacked. And yes, they did have traffic controls, but obviously, the machinery in use was far larger and heavier-duty than the equipment available over here, where the roads are so much smaller and access is often more difficult.
But what was really fascinating to witness was the depth of tarmac that was being laid. It was roughly four or five times what we are getting used to seeing being put down over here, and the chances of it eroding quickly or becoming riven with potholes once back in regular use was clearly minimal.
The same road surface, when we drove back along that route later in the day, was super-smooth and a joy to drive over. There was little comparison with Jersey road surfaces, which, even when freshly recovered, still feel strangely uneven and even bumpy.
According to the government website, 11 roads are scheduled for major work in 2025. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that in advance of those projects being carried out – each of which will be highly disruptive to people living or working in the area – some joined-up thinking comes into play.
It may be too much to ask, but hopefully, all of the utilities and similarly interested parties will have been contacted in advance, in order to avoid further disruption within months of completion.
I carried out a little straw poll (thank you, social media) to find the worst roads in Jersey. St Saviour’s Road, which one person compared to The Menin Road circa 1917 and another said was like driving over a ploughed field, easily trumped all others. The good(ish) news is that that one is scheduled for resurfacing next year … subject to the progress of ongoing developments in the area.
More than 20 other roads were also nominated for the list of shame, and a number of the comments relating to the quality of recently completed resurfacing projects couldn’t be repeated in polite company, let alone this newspaper.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the plans to fully pedestrianise the area around Broad Street. That’s a whole new rant.
Fiona Walker was born and educated in Jersey and worked in finance before having children. She moved into media, presenting her own programme on BBC Radio Jersey, then as a senior broadcast journalist for local BBC television news. She was editor of The Jersey Life and wrote eight series for the national publication Motor Boat & Yachting magazine. She now promotes Jersey charity shops on social media under the name Upstylejersey.
