15 March 2006
Pedestrian improvements for Charing Cross
Proposals to provide better facilities for pedestrians at Charing Cross and to improve the connection between the town and the waterfront have been published today. This is another initiative of the new Urban Task Force which is seeking to ensure that the development of the St Helier Waterfront is integrated with rest of the town and that new investment is made throughout the Island’s capital.
Charing Cross is an important gateway and is part of the route walked by many people going to and from the town centre and car parks at Sand Street, Patriotic Street and the Esplanade. It is also likely that as more parts of the St Helier Waterfront are developed the links between the ‘old town’ and the new maritime quarter will become used by more and more people.
The new proposals aim to improve the crossing facilities for people coming and going between King Street and Sand Street. This will be achieved by raising the level of the road surface over the entire Charing Cross area and by introducing new pedestrian crossings at key points. The proposals also include a limited amount of pavement widening in Broad Street on the northern side of the street where the pavement is narrow between the Blue Note Bar and La Croix de la Reine at Charing Cross.
‘These proposals are essentially a small extension of what we have already done in Charing Cross, York Street and Broad Street but they will make it much easier for pedestrians to cross the road here and will also calm the speed of traffic’ said Urban Task Force chair, Connetable Simon Crowcroft. ‘The traders in the area have responded very positively to the work that we have already done here and we believe that it is not only good for pedestrians but good for trade in St Helier. We hope that people will continue to support these proposals to complete the improvements in this part of town’ he added.
Traffic flow throughout the area will not be changed by these proposals and they do not alter the level or location of on-street car parking.
The £50,000 scheme will be funded and carried out under the auspices of Planning and Environment’s St Helier Street Life Programme.
The proposals for Charing Cross are being released today for consultation. If the response to these proposals is favourable, work will start in the middle of September and be complete by the end of November.
Comments are sought, before 05 May 2006, as to whether people support the proposals, and if so, when they would wish to see the work carried out.
ENDS
Note to editors
The new Urban Task Force, comprising the Chief Minister and Ministers for Planning and Environment, Transport and Technical Services, Economic Development and the Connetable of St Helier, together with representation from the Chamber of Commerce, is in the process of developing the St Helier Development and Regeneration Strategy. The strategy will be developed during 2006 and will seek to establish policy directions and delivery mechanisms for projects such as the Town Park and key development opportunities around the town. It will also serve to set the strategic direction for public sector intervention in the town arising from the potential generation of receipts on the Waterfront.
In the meantime, a series of smaller scale initiatives, to enhance the town centre, are being developed and implemented by the Urban Task Force and their constituent members, working in partnership.
Contacts
Connetable Simon Crowcroft 811811 and 07797 717933
Parish of St Helier and Chair of the UTF
gov.je