GROWTH, HOUSING AND ENVIRONMENT
INTERIM ZEBRA CROSSING - ST JOHN’S ROAD, LINKING TO THE PEDESTRIANISED
SOUTHERN END OF LA GRANDE ROUTE DU MONT A L’ABBE, ST HELIER
Purpose of the Report
To request the Minister to approve the installation of an interim zebra crossing on St John’s Road to the south of The Pet Cabin adjacent to La Grande Route du Mont a l’Abbe, and the monitoring of the trial to inform consideration of further safety measures.
Background
The Safer Routes to School initiative encourages walking, cycling and bus use in line with the Sustainable Transport Policy. The use of more sustainable modes of transport helps to reduce congestion, with a reduction in the detrimental health impacts of congestion and air pollution. Walking and cycling have health and wellbeing benefits. A number of improvements have been made to provide better, safer, walking routes to Island secondary schools, and these have been proved by post evaluation to show benefits in terms of student safety and encouraging walking to school.
Numerous road safety complaints have been received by the Parish of St Helier and GHE, going back a decade, about the challenges of crossing this main St John’s Road at the junction with the pedestrianised southern section of La Grande Route du Mont a l’Abbe (administered by the Parish of St Helier) which leads to the main entrance of Haute Vallee School and a number of residential areas. At this point on the road the western pavement ends and pedestrians need to cross to the east side of the road to continue east.
The pavement on the west side of St John’s Road between Uplands Apartments and Queens Road is busy during school times with over 400 school children walking to and from Haute Vallee. The school has an exceptionally high percentage of pupils either walking or cycling to and from the secondary school, with the majority of students living in residential areas within walking or cycling distance. The school have raised the issue of safety following near misses with students crossing the road at this location. The route is also a walking route from the nearby estates to D’Auvergne primary school to the east.
There are a number of positive features for walking in this area:
Safe pedestrian only lane route from Haute Vallee School to St John’s Road along the southern section of Grande Route du Mont a l’Abbe
There is a pedestrian path from St John’s Road to Queens Road
The pelican crossing facility on Queens Road adjacent to the Morrisons Shop allows safer crossing to nearby estates and on to D’Auvergne School.
There are however a number of detrimental issues in the area:
X St John’s Road is narrow and has high traffic volumes especially during peak hours
X Pedestrians tend to take the shortest road crossing line and cross adjacent to a high granite wall of Chestnut Farm which gives them no visibility to off-side traffic
X The pavements are narrow, less than 1m in the area of the crossing point
X Illegal parking occurs on the pedestrianised area bellmouth end of La Grande Route du Mont a l’Abbe, which can obscure pedestrian view lines and present a hazard to pedestrians of traffic in what is designated as a pedestrian only area.
X For traffic coming from the south the road narrows significantly through the bend to the natural crossing point, and drivers are not encouraged by the road layout to anticipate and slow down.
There have been two personal injury collisions at the junction, involving vulnerable road users with one being directly related to the afternoon school peak time.
The St John’s Road Road Safety Board was established to drive forward safety improvements for the road, especially for pedestrians, and involves members of the local community. It includes representatives from the local Politicians’, St Helier parish technical officers, St Helier Roads Committee and Haute Vallee School Leadership. Their remit is to look at all the issues along the length of St John’s Road and engage with the community to develop beneficial options for road safety improvements for the Minister for Infrastructure to consider for funding and implementation. Due to the complexities of the wider issues on St John’s Road, and the strength of concerns within the community and the high number of school movements, the Board felt it vital to bring forward, as a matter of urgency, a solution for crossing the road near the ‘Pet Cabin’ even if it is an interim solution until wider development and assessments of the area evolve.
Discussion
Various options were developed and examined during the technical feasibility stage of the project:
- Option 1 – Long raised table, a courtesy crossing with a long low planter to direct pedestrians to the crossing
- Option 2 – Raised table zebra crossing with Belisha beacons, kerb buildout on the eastern side, a railing to guide pedestrians to the crossing and bollards to prevent parking on the pedestrianised west side of the crossing
- Option 3 - Raised table Jersey zebra crossing (no Belisha beacons), kerb buildout on the eastern side, a railing to guide pedestrians to the crossing and bollards to prevent parking on the pedestrianised west side of the crossing
- Option 4 - Raised table Jersey zebra crossing (no Belisha beacons or kerb buildout on the eastern side), a railing to guide pedestrians to the crossing and bollards to prevent parking on the west side
An independent professional road safety risk evaluation was carried out on the four options, along with ‘do nothing’. This evaluated option 2 as deriving the most safety benefits, closely followed by option 3:
The Project Board supported implementing the option with the most safety benefit that was viable to implement.
The crossing is proposed to be interim due to a number of unknowns at this time. There are several areas nearby which have potential for development, depending on the emerging Island Plan, and there are wider road safety issues to be looked at including at the junction with Queens Road. The Board felt that an interim positive improvement whilst work is progressing on other areas was essential. The Board are of a strong opinion that the interim scheme should be installed this year, and the school summer holiday is the only long enough window of opportunity to carry out the roadworks safely without risk to students. This view is supported by the School leadership team.
All the immediate neighbours have been consulted and have had the opportunity to express their opinions. This has found general support to improve pedestrian safety at this location, but raised some concerns with proposals, in particular mitigating the impacts of the use of flashing Belisha beacons.
Due to the Covid pandemic, progress has been hampered and a ‘drop in’ community consultation event has not been possible. There are plans in progress for an online forum for comments on the scheme to start at the end of June. The feedback from this would inform the scheme development but is not anticipated to identify issues that would affect the viability of this important safer routes to school initiative.
As the road is unable to be closed or under traffic lights for longer than three weeks due to St John’s Road being a diversionary route for other road closures, the works during this approaching school summer holiday will be to install the raised table zebra crossing and a temporary mid height fence to guide pedestrians to the crossing on the west side. The main kerb realignment will need to wait until 2021, as will the installation of a heritage type permanent railing near Chestnut Farm. The scheme will be monitored to determine whether additional safety measures, including the installation of Belisha beacons, are needed to maximise the safety benefits and this will be brought back to the Minister for a decision on implementation, if appropriate, under the auspices of this decision.
Conclusion
As a key initiative for Safer Routes to Schools, the zebra crossing, even in a temporary form, will have a beneficial impact. Initial installation of a bolt down rubber raised table zebra crossing this summer followed by monitoring to determine the need for further safety features should be carried out. In the mid-term the St Johns Road Road Safety Board should review Island Plan proposals and further evaluation of the location for a longer-term option that has community support.
Recommendation
The Minister is recommended to approve the installation of the proposed interim zebra crossing and the monitoring of the trial and further review to consider additional safety measures.
Reason(s) for Decision
To provide a safer crossing facility for students walking to and from Haute Vallee School as part of Safer Routes to Schools and to benefit other pedestrians in the area.
Resource Implications
The project is estimated at £50,000 and is to be funded from the 2020 Capital Programme.
Action Required
Officers to undertake detailed design of enabling works and crossing, evaluation of trial and consideration of further safety improvements.
Written by: | Assistant Engineer, Transport |
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Approved by: | Head of Transport |
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Attachments: | Drawings |
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