GROWTH HOUSING AND ENVIRONMENT
ROAD TRAFFIC (ST HELIER) (JERSEY) ORDER 1996 AMENDMENT
Purpose of the Report
To amend the Road Traffic (St Helier) (Jersey) Order 1996 by Article 68 notice to make the north section of Green Street one way.
Proposition
On 4th June 2019 the States Assembly voted in favour of proposition P.50/2019 Green Street: proposal to make one-way. The proposition stating -
a) agreed that the current temporary arrangement allowing all vehicular traffic to travel in one direction only, south to north, on Green Street from the junction with Havre des Pas to the junction with La Route de Fort, St. Helier should be made permanent;
b) requested the Minister for Infrastructure, following consultation with the Parish of St. Helier, to bring forward for approval the necessary amendments to legislation to give effect to the proposal; and
c) requested the Minister for Infrastructure, following consultation with the Parish of St. Helier and Liberty Bus, to make permanent the current re- routing of the outbound No. 1 bus route via Library Place, Pier Road and Mount Bingham
Consultation
Following this vote consultation took place with the Parish of St Helier and Liberty Bus as required but also with the Fire Service.
- The Parish of St Helier commented on the proposal that the impact on parking would be made up elsewhere and requesting shelters were provided at the new bus stops but refrained from stating whether or not they support the proposal (although the Connetable voted in favour of the proposition).
- Liberty Bus accepted the States’ decision and agreed to make the re-routing permanent, but requested consideration of measures to improve bus priority at the Church Street/Hill Street junction and the junction of Pier Road/South Hill/Mount Bingham.
- The Fire Service raised concerns about emergency access for the Eastern Rendezvous Point for La Collette which is positioned at the southern end of Green Street. The concern being that the emergency access would either be diverted via a longer route or would be going against the flow on a one-way street. The recommendation was to have further discussions on a multi-agency basis to establish the extent of the impact.
Specific consultation with residents and businesses has not taken place either before or after the proposition debate. However it has been seen from press coverage of the decision that there is objection from businesses on Clos des Pas and correspondence on behalf of some residents also raises concerns.
The revised proposal was sent to the Parish of St Helier for comment on Monday 23rd September.
Further Considerations
In the Ministers response to the proposition (P.50/2019 Com) a number of concerns were raised regarding the proposal, none of these concerns have been addressed and as can be seen from the consultation additional concerns have been raised.
Additionally, an initial design which set out the one-way as per the proposition identified that access to the front of The Limes would be compromised. The current access is exclusively from a left turn immediately upon existing Green Street roundabout. By blocking this exit traffic would have to approach from the opposite direction and go to the right of the splitter island to turn right into the entrance. Whilst it is likely small cars could make this turn larger vehicles, such as refuse collection vehicles, are unlikely to be able to make this manoeuvre. This increases the overall cost as the central island would need to be redesigned to facilitate the access which was not anticipated at the time of the debate.
Design Development
To address as many of the issues as practicable whilst maintaining the spirit of removing southbound through-traffic the following alterations are recommended:
- Reduction in the overall extents of the restriction
By reducing the extents of the restriction so that the wider section from The Cedars to Green Street Roundabout remains two way resolves the access issue for The Limes and reduces the impact to 77 of the over 300 properties directly affected.
By reducing the extents of the restriction so that the wider section between Havre des Pas and Clos des Pas remains two way removes the need for vehicles accessing the shops to exit via Green Street roundabout reducing the impact to a further 40 properties (plus the new flats currently under development) including the businesses who have expressed concerns.
This very point was discussed during the debate and Deputy Labey, who put forward the proposition, referred to this in his closing speech:
I am saying to the Assembly that if that legislation is one way from Clos des Pas to the entrance to Maison La Corderie, that is acceptable and fine and we will be happy with that
Extract from Hansard
- Relaxation to exempt Emergency Services, Busses and Cycles
There is a clear justification in exempting emergency services from the one way whilst responding to an incident. Discussion with the Ambulance Service, Fire Service and Emergency Planning confirm that this satisfies their objection and the Police (who hadn’t raised an objection) have not raised an objection to this arrangement.
This raises concerns, however, that southbound traffic would be unexpected by northbound vehicles and, despite blue lights and sirens, a road traffic collision could occur on Green Street during such a response. To address this, and to address the concerns about the impact on access to buses, a general exception to public service vehicles on a scheduled route should be included. This creates a regular flow of southbound vehicles whilst keeping overall numbers low. This also reduces concern about northbound drivers not expecting southbound traffic in an emergency situation. The road would have to be designed to facilitate two-way traffic remaining largely as it is at present. Adjusting the existing priority give-way narrowing’s so that priority is given to southbound vehicles (busses and emergency services) will maintain an element of speed control in what is now a 20mph street.
If buses are permitted to travel southbound then there is logic in allowing cyclists to also travel southbound. This maintains the existing cycle link and helps to making cycling more attractive than driving which supports the Government’s aim to reduce carbon emissions.
- Implementing One-Way over a shorter extent
To sign a one-way system from Clos des Pas to The Cedars requires a significant number of signs, both to tell traffic joining from side roads that the road is one-way and to tell northbound traffic that the road is one way. With the exemptions recommended above these signs become larger and less legible to road users. By changing the restriction to a point one-way at the northern end there is no need for most of the new signage. Operationally the only impact would be that vehicles joining Green Street from side accesses (~18 private driveways, Willow Court, Rope Walk, Greencourt, Havre des Pas Gardens and La Collette Flats) would be permitted to head southbound as well as northbound. As only Rope Walk and Havre des Pas Gardens are through routes and neither bypass the point no-entry it is not expected that traffic flows on these routes would suffer from rat-running as a consequence of this relaxation.
The scheme has been Road Safety Audited by an independent audit team and no significant problems have been found with this arrangement.
Conclusion
Whilst the recommended changes to the proposition as debated do not alleviate all the concerns and the scheme continues to have questionable merit these alterations do remove or reduce the following concerns:
- Liberty Bus delays at the Church Street/Hill Street junction and the junction of Pier Road/South Hill/Mount Bingham.
- Emergency Vehicle Access to the Eastern Rendezvous Point for La Collette
- Access to businesses
- Wider impact on access to bus service
- Impact on Cycling
- Likely increase in vehicle speeds
- Access and Egress for residents
- Impact on departmental budgets
At the same time the core benefit of removing all southbound through-traffic remains with the exception of the residents themselves and a handful of busses each hour.
Proposed Restriction
Schedule 1
Part 1 - One-Way Traffic Routes
Green Street: from a point 80 yards south of La Route du Fort, to a point 70 yards south of a Route du Fort
Part 2 – One-Way Traffic Routes for Vehicles Exceeding 6 Feet 6 Inches in Width
Green Street: remove entry
Part 3 – Exemption
Green Street: - Pedal Cycles & Omnibuses
Recommendation
The Minister is recommended to approve the request to amend the Road Traffic (St Helier) (Jersey) Order 1996 by Article 68 notice.
Reason(s) for Decision
To amend the Road Traffic (St Helier)(Jersey) Order 1996 by Article 68 notice to introduce a northbound ‘One-Way’ traffic restriction on Green Street.
Action Required
Officers are to prepare an article 68 Notice for publishing in the Jersey Gazette, ahead of instructing the Law Draftsman to prepare an Amendment to the Order for subsequent submission to the Minister
Written by: | Transport Planner, Department for Infrastructure |
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Approved by: | Transport Director, Department for Infrastructure |
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Attachments – Concept Drawing: Green Street One-Way vB1 (30/08/2019)
gov.je