The Festival of Motoring 2009.

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A decision made (01/05/2009) regarding: The Festival of Motoring 2009.

Decision Reference: MD-T-2009-0042
Decision Summary Title :	2009 Festival of Motoring – Motor Racing on Public Roads Application: Part 1		Date of Decision Summary:	30th April 2009
Decision Summary Author:	Streetworks Manager		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	The Classic and Vintage Motor Racing Club’s Application to Hold the ‘Festival of Motoring’ 2009		Date of Written Report:	30th April 2009
Written Report Author:	Streetworks Manager		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: The Festival of Motoring 2009
Decision(s): 1) The Minister rescinded Ministerial Decision Ref: MD-T-2009-0040 (replaced by this Ministerial Decision). 2)The Minister approved the Festival of Motoring 2009, including the new ‘Activity Arena’ and the preparation of an Order under Article 2 of the Motor Vehicle Races (Jersey) Law 1946.
Reason(s) for Decision: 1) Ministerial Decision Ref: MD-T-2009-0040 made incorrect reference under ‘Actions Required’ to the ‘Entertainment on Public Roads Law (Jersey)1985’ (which should have read the ‘Motor Vehicle Races (Jersey) Law 1946’) 2) The Minister approved the proposed road closures and associated traffic management (following consultations) as the administering authority of the Motor Vehicle Races (Jersey) Law 1946.
Resource Implications: TTS Officer and Law Draftsman’s time
Action required: To forward a copy of the Ministerial Decision along with an Instructing Memorandum and the Promoter’s Application to the Law Draftsman.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

The Festival of Motoring 2009.

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

THE CLASSIC & VINTAGE MOTOR RACING CLUB’S APPLICATION TO HOLD

THE ‘FESTIVAL OF MOTORING’ 2009

Purpose of the Report

To obtain Ministerial Decision regarding approval of the Classic & Vintage Motor Racing Club’s (CVMRC) proposed ‘Jersey Festival of Motoring’ racing events for 2009.

In addition, to enable an instruction to be sent to the Law Draftsman requesting preparation of an Order under Article 2 of the “Motor Vehicle Races (Jersey) Law 1946”.

Background

This is the second year that the CVMRC have organised the Jersey Festival of Motoring (previously hosted by the ‘Jersey Old Motor Club’) and the ninth year of the event itself. While race timings and course details are similar to those approved in pervious years, this year the CVMRC is seeking to develop the event into a ‘Goodwood’ type festival with the introduction of an ‘Active Arena’ on La Route de St Aubin between the King George V Homes and West Park roundabout. The aim of the Activity Arena is to give other motor clubs in the Island a space in which to carry out live displays, for example vehicle cavalcades, trial bike riding etc., although no specific details have been provided to date as to how the Arena will be managed.

The Festival has the support of the Connétable of St. Helier, who has given permission for both the ‘Upper’ and ‘Lower’ parks to be used as static display areas. The event also has the non-financial support of Jersey Tourism. The CVMRC has consulted and is co-ordinating with the Honorary Police, Emergency Services, TTS Parking Control, Connex and Fort Regent.

The Festival, including the Activity Arena, has been risk assessed by the Motor Sport Association’s (MSA) Director of Motor Sport Safety and has received full MSA’s Public Liability Insurance cover.

Road closure details are as follows:

Victoria Avenue Sprint: Friday 5th June (7pm to 11.30pm): Victoria Avenue will be closed from West Park to First Tower junction. The Promoter also wishes to use Lay-by 1 for the parking and the display of race vehicles. The promenade and the cycle track will be unaffected.

Westmount Hill Climb: Saturday 6th June (10am to 6pm): Westmount will be closed from St Aubin’s Road to the entrance of Overdale Hospital.

Mount Bingham Hill Climb: Sunday 7th June (9.30am to 4pm): Pier Road will be closed from its junction with the northern arm of South Hill to Mount Bingham. Mount Bingham from its junction with Pier Road to Green Street. Also closed are South Hill, Fort Regent Road and La Collette Garden Car Parks.
La Route de St Aubin Active Arena: Sunday 7th June (10am to 4.30pm): La Route de St Aubin will be closed from the King George V Homes to its junction with West Park Roundabout.

Discussion - Part 1: Established Festival Events

Victoria Avenue Sprint: Due to the closure being in the evening (after PM peak demand which ends prior to 7pm) traffic delays will be less significant than, for example the Battle of Flowers. Nevertheless although the Public is now familiar with the Sprint’s traffic impact, experience from previous years indicates that disruption will be significant into the late evening. Parking suspension will be required between West Park and First Tower.

Westmount Hill Climb: The Parish of St Helier administers Westmount Road and its closure will cause little disruption.

Mount Bingham Hill Climb: While Mount Bingham is actively used by both commuter and commercial traffic during weekdays, its closure on a Sunday should not present significant traffic issues, with the main impact being the loss of the costal route to tourists and the loss of access to Fort Regent.

Discussion - Part 2: Activity Arena

Traffic: Creation of the Activity Arena entails closing La Route de St Aubin between West Park Roundabout and First Tower. Sunday traffic volumes in June will typically be 7200 both ways, between 9am and 6pm hours. If this volume of traffic is diverted to Victoria Avenue on a Sunday in June, significant westbound congestion will occur at the right turns on Victoria Avenue (at First Tower and Rue du Galet). For eastbound traffic, congestion will occur on the right turns off La Route de St Aubin (at Rue du Galet and at First Tower), also on Beaumont Hill down which a high proportion of eastbound traffic would be diverted. All traffic heading west out of St Helier and heading east into St Helier would suffer significant delays throughout the closure time. The traffic management strategy will have to be twofold:

Effective advance signage to encourage eastbound traffic on La Route de St Aubin to turn off at Rue du Galet to reduce pressure on First Tower.

Careful Junction management at First Tower, which will require TTS Traffic Engineers support on the day (approximately 2hr AM to adjust signal timings and 2hr PM to adjust back), the cost of which the CVMRC has verbally agreed to pay.

Honorary Policing: The Honorary Police current assessment is that they will only need to provide a passing patrol on the Inner Road, during the time of closure once the traffic management is set up. While TTS understands the demands that are being placed on the Honorary Police, in that they are also being asked to provide police support at Mount Bingham (as well as providing support for Cancer Research’s ‘Race For Life’ taking place on the Promenade during the day – see below), it is not comfortable with this assessment and believes that a permanent police presence is required at least at First Tower junction. It also means that although the CVMRC is able to field a significant number of marshals between the two separate events (around 60 in all), they will be left entirely responsible for any issues that might arise in relation to traffic problems.

There will also be a need for the Honorary Police to carefully manage the ingress and egress of display vehicles at the Lower Park from Victoria Avenue.

Bus Services: Buses will be unable to serve stops between West Park and First Tower (normally every 5 to 10 minutes). Buses, including those to the Airport, are likely to experience delays as a result of congestion on Victoria Avenue and La Route de St Aubin. The following route will be affected in both directions: Explorer (Red, Blue, Yellow) and No. 7b, 8a, 9, 12, 12a, 14, 15.

Access to Residences: During the closure access to premises will be maintained via First Tower. In accordance with the Minister’s request the Promoter has consulted residents with access off St Aubin’s Road between West Park to Tyneville Lane and those in the immediately outlying vicinity. No adverse comments have been received by the Promoter or TTS to date.

Other Events: Cancer Research ‘Race For Life’ will be taking place on St Aubin’s Bay Promenade, starting and finishing at Les Jardins de la Mer. The men’s runs start at 10am and the women’s at 11.30am. The race will involve over one thousand runners and will be finished by 2pm.

Conclusion

The Festival of Motoring is an established and publicly accepted event however, the proposed introduction of an Activity Arena on La Route de St. Aubin represents a significant escalation in its scale and impact, both as a whole given that the Festival already entails closure of Victoria Avenue on the Friday night and specifically on the Sunday with the parallel closure of Mount Bingham.

While there is no indication that the twin closure of Mount Bingham and La Route de St Aubin will have an accentuating effect, clearly the closure of both routes is significant. Justification for the additional disruption caused by the introduction of an Activity Arena is therefore dependent on wider community based considerations such as:

The degree of public support and sympathy that the expanded Festival will receive;

The development potential of the event as an attraction to tourists and therefore its broader financial benefit to the Island.

However, these questions cannot be properly addressed without first giving the Activity Arena a practical opportunity.

Clearly if an Activity Arena on La Route de St Aubin is approved, the CVMRC will need as a condition to secure an Honorary Police presence at First Tower during the closure. There will also be a need to extensively advertise traffic changes and their impact on bus services.

Recommendation

The established aspects of the Festival should be approved as in previous years. The introduction of an Activity Arena should also be approved this year, but subject to the securing of an Honorary Police presents at First Tower junction. It should also be made clear that on going support for an Activity Arena on La Route de St Aubin will be depended its impact and success this year.

Action Required

To forward a copy of the Ministerial Decision along with an Instructing Memorandum and the Promoter’s Application to the Law Draftsman to enable the preparation of an Order under Article 2 of the “Motor Vehicle Races (Jersey) Law 1946”.

Written by:	Streetworks Manager – Traffic & Infrastructure

Approved by:	Director – Municipal Services

30th April 2009