Festival of Motoring 2016: Law drafting instructions

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A decision made 15/02/2016:

Decision Reference: MD-T-2016-0014
Decision Summary Title :	Festival of Motoring 2016 Motor Racing on Public Roads Application: Part 1		Date of Decision Summary:	09 February 2016
Decision Summary Author:	Technical Assistant Traffic and Infrastructure		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	The Classic and Vintage Motor Racing Club’s Application to hold the Festival of Motoring 2016		Date of Written Report:	09 February 2016
Written Report Author:	Technical Assistant Traffic and Infrastructure		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The Festival of Motoring 2016
Decision(s): The Minister agreed to the preparation of an Order under Article 2 of the Motor Vehicle Races (Jersey) Law 1946 and Article 2 of the Entertainment on Public Roads Law (Jersey) 1985 to enable the Festival of Motoring 2016 in full accordance with the requirements of the Classic and Vintage Motor Racing Club’s application.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Minister accepted that the proposed road closures and associated traffic management appeared both reasonable and justified.
Resource Implications: Department for Infrastructure Officer and Law Draftsman’s time.
Action required: Technical Assistant to forward a copy of the Ministerial Decision along with an Instructing Memorandum and the Promoter’s Application to the Law Draftsman.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Infrastructure
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Festival of Motoring 2016: Law drafting instructions

DEPARTMENT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

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

THE FESTIVAL OF MOTORING 2016

Purpose of the Report

To obtain a Ministerial Decision regarding the approval of road closures and traffic restrictions for the purpose of holding the Jersey Festival of Motoring racing events between Thursday 02 June and Sunday 05 June 2016.

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 and Article 2 of the Entertainments on Public Roads (Jersey) Law 1985 (in relation to the Activity Arena).

Background

The Classic and Vintage Motor Racing Club (the Promoter) has submitted details of its proposed events for this year’s Festival of Motoring. The events are enabled by Order of the Minister for Infrastructure under Article 2 of the Motor Vehicle Races (Jersey) Law 1946.

The Promoter has again requested to close Victoria Avenue on two consecutive evenings. The event traditionally only had one event on the Avenue, an historic sprint taking place on a Friday night. On the last two years the Promoter has closed the Avenue on the Thursday night so that a Kart Race could be staged, utilising all running lanes on Victoria Avenue and the lay-bys. This supplementary event proved successful and has been widely accepted by the public, and has been requested once again.

As per last year, the Promoter will provide the public with a broad based programme of motoring events with the inclusion of an ‘Activity Arena / Circuit Course’ at West Park on Sunday 05 June (see attached plan) along with other static displays on La Route de St Aubin above the Lower People’s Park. The aim of the Activity Arena / Circuit Course is to give motor clubs in the Island a space in which to carry out live displays rather than racing.

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 Promoter is consulting and co-ordinating with the Honorary Police, Emergency Services, DfI Parking Control, Liberty Bus and Fort Regent. The Promoter will also be carrying out a face to face letter drop to residents and businesses affected by the event, notably the Grand Hotel, etc.

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 Kart Race: Thursday 02 June (7pm to 11.30pm): Victoria Avenue will be closed from West Park to First Tower junction. The Promoter also wishes to use Lay-bys 1 and 2 to make part of the proposed race course. Lay-by 1 will be closed from 6am until after the event (around Midnight). Lay-by 2 will be closed from 2pm on the afternoon of the event with all remaining vehicles removed from the lay-by after 5pm. The promenade and the cycle track will be unaffected.

- Victoria Avenue Sprint: Friday 03 June (7pm to 11.30pm): Victoria Avenue will be closed from West Park to First Tower junction. The Promoter also wishes to use Lay-bys 1, 2 and 4 for the parking and display of race vehicles and lay-by 4 for vehicle turning which will require their closure. Lay-by 1 will be closed from 6am until after the event (around Midnight). Lay-bys 2 and 4 will be closed from 2pm on the afternoon of the event with all remaining vehicles removed from the lay-bys after 5pm. The promenade and the cycle track will be unaffected.

- Westmount Hill Climb: Saturday 04 June (9.30am to 6.30pm): Westmount will be closed from St Aubin’s Road to the entrance of Overdale Hospital.

- Sorel Point Loop Road: Saturday 04 June (8.00am – 5pm): The Sorel Point Loop Road will be closed to allow a junior kart race to take place.

- Mount Bingham Hill Climb: Sunday 05 June (9am to 4pm): Pier Road will be closed from its junction with the northern arm of South Hill to Mount Bingham, and Mount Bingham from its junction with Pier Road to Green Street. Also closed are South Hill, Fort Regent Road and South Hill Car Parks.

- La Route de St Aubin Activity Arena: Sunday 05 June (8am to 6pm): La Route de St Aubin will be closed from the King George V Homes to its junction with Kensington Street. The West Park slip lane will also be closed, as will Pierson Road.

Discussion

- Victoria Avenue (Thursday Night - Kart Race / Sprint Pursuit) (Friday Night - Classic Car and Motorcycle Sprint): Due to the closures 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 traffic impact of these events, experience from previous years indicates that disruption will be significant into the early evening.

- 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 coastal route to tourists and the loss of access to Fort Regent.

Discussion - Activity Arena:

- Traffic: Creation of the Activity Arena entails closing La Route de St Aubin between First Tower and Kensington Street which is the same as last year. In addition the West Park slip lane and Pierson Road will be closed. This will necessitate northbound traffic being diverted up Kensington Place and Kensington Street on to St Aubin’s Road.

The likely impact of these arrangements is to create westbound congestion at the right turns on Victoria Avenue (at First Tower and Rue du Galet) and eastbound congestion on the right turns off La Route de St Aubin (at Rue du Galet and at First Tower). There will also be delays for vehicles heading northbound via Kensington Place.

- Emergency Services: The Emergency Services have been consulted regarding the closure of La Route de St Aubin (between First Tower and Kensington Street) and Pierson Road and have indicated that they are comfortable with diversion arrangements (i.e. Kensington Place and Kensington Street on to St Aubin’s Road).

- Bus Services: Buses will be unable to serve stops between West Park and First Tower (normally every 5 to 10 minutes). The following services will be affected in both directions: No. 27, 8, 9, 12, 12a, 14, 15. However, it is worth noting that the same arrangements last year did not cause Liberty Bus any significant operational issues.

- Access to Residences: During the closure access to premises will be maintained via First Tower, this includes access to West Park Apartments. As part of the closure of Pierson Road residential parking will be suspended from 6pm on Saturday 04 June

- Other Events: There are no other events planned for this day in the vicinity of the Festival of motoring

Conclusion

The Festival of Motoring is an established and publicly accepted event, the introduction of a circular Activity Arena on La Route de St Aubin five years ago, and of the Thursday night Kart Event since 2014 have been well received by the public. During the event there were no adverse traffic comments received by the Department and as such officers see no reason why the events cannot take place again in 2016.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve the Classic and Vintage Motor Racing Club’s event programme and the preparation of an Order.

Reason(s) for Decision

The Minister accepted that the proposed road closures and associated traffic management appeared both reasonable and justified.

Resource Implications

TTS Officer and Law Draftsman’s time.

Action Required

Technical Assistant to forward a copy of the Ministerial Decision along with an Instructing Memorandum and the Promoter’s Application to the Law Draftsman.

Written by:	Technical Assistant, Traffic and Infrastructure
Approved by:	Director, Engineering and Infrastructure
Attachments:	Plan of West Park Activity Arena

Y:\Minister\2016\Ministerial Decisions\MD 00 Festival of Motoring 2016 Part 1\WR Festival of Motoring 2016 Part 1.docx