Road Racing (International Motoring Festival) (Jersey) Order 2009

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A decision made (22.05.2009) to make the Road Racing (International Motoring Festival) (Jersey) Order 2009.

Decision Reference: MD-T-2009-0053
Decision Summary Title :	2009 Jersey International Motoring Festival – Motor Racing on Public Roads Application: Part 2		Date of Decision Summary:	18th May 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 of Jersey’s Application to Hold the ‘Jersey International Motoring Festival 2009’		Date of Written Report:	18th May 2009
Written Report Author:	Streetworks Manager		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Road Racing (International Motoring Festival) (Jersey) Order 2009
Decision(s): The Minister made the Road Racing (International Motoring Festival) (Jersey) Order 2009 as prepared.
Reason(s) for Decision: 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: None
Action required: To notify the Greffier of the States and the Law Draftsman that the Order has been made and forward the signed and sealed Order to the Publications Editor, States Greffe, for notification to the States.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Road Racing (International Motoring Festival) (Jersey) Order 2009

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

THE CLASSIC & VINTAGE MOTOR RACING CLUB OF JERSEY’S APPLICATION TO HOLD THE ‘JERSEY INTERNATIONAL MOTORING FESTIVAL 2009’

Purpose of the Report

To obtain Ministerial Decision regarding approval of the Classic & Vintage Motor Racing Club of Jersey’s (CVMRC) proposed ‘Jersey International Motoring Festival’ racing events between Friday 5th and Sunday 7th June 2009.

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 previous years, this year the CVMRC is seeking to develop the event into a ‘Goodwood’ type festival with the introduction of an ‘Activy 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 (see attached plan)

The Festival’s race events are enabled by Order of the Transport and Technical Services Minister under Article 2 of the “Motor Vehicle Races (Jersey) Law 1946” and the Activity Arena under Article 2 of the “Entertainments on Public Roads (Jersey) Law 1985”.

As per the requirements of the Entertainments on Public Roads (Jersey) Law 1985, a draft order has been prepared and circulated to the Connétable of St Helier for consultation (the Parish has also given permission for both the ‘Upper’ and ‘Lower’ parks to be used as static display areas). 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 Activity 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:

Þ 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.

Þ Careful junction management at First Tower and at the right turn into Pierson Road from the Esplanade, which will require Honorary Policy management through the manual control of the traffic signals. There will also be a need for the management of 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’s. 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 development potential of the event as an attraction to tourists and therefore its broader financial benefit to the Island. However, this cannot be properly addressed without first giving the Activity Arena a practical opportunity.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to sign the ‘Road Racing (International Motoring Festival) (Jersey) Order 2009’ as prepared.

Action Required

To notify the Greffier of the States and the Law Draftsman that the Order has been made and forward the signed and sealed Order to the Publications Editor, States Greffe, for notification to the States.

Written by:	Streetworks Manager – Traffic & Infrastructure

Approved by:	Director – Municipal Services

Attachments: None

18th May 2009