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4.5 Deputy J.M. Maçon of the Minister for Transport and Technical Services regarding the net gain or loss of car parking spaces along Victoria Avenue following the current works:
Can the Minister please inform the Assembly what the total number of car parking spaces along Victoria Avenue was before the works took place and what the total number of car parking spaces is expected to be after the works are finished and, in doing so, identify any net gain or loss?
Connétable M.K. Jackson St. Brelade (The Minister for Transport and
Technical Services):
The total number of spaces before the work commenced was 464; in total, 49 spaces have been removed, making the new total 415.
Deputy J.M. Maçon:
Sorry, I did not quite catch them, can the Minister go through those figures again? The Bailiff :
Forty nine lost, I think.
- Deputy J.M. Maçon:
Under whose authority did the department take instruction in order to reduce these car parking spaces?
The Connétable of St. Brelade :
As a key part of an independent safety audit undertaken in 2008, it was identified that all the exits from the lay-by car parks were sub-standard due to lack of visibility for vehicles leaving those car parks. The problem of parked cars close to the exit has now been removed and a visibility splay in accordance with the Jersey Highway standards has been created allowing vehicles to see 50 metres up the road to traffic in the inside lane on the avenue. In each car park, the new visibility splay has resulted in a loss of between 2 and 9 spaces, totalling 31 across all the car parks along the avenue.
- Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier:
Was there no other way, indeed there has been a temporary realigning of the car park which has created lots of extra spaces, to retain these spaces by reconfiguring the car park?
The Connétable of St. Brelade :
Well, indeed, another feature of the improvements has seen an increase in the stacking lengths for vehicles turning right into First Tower and Rue du Galet, and the right-turn lanes constantly back-up into the 2-lane carriageway, restricting the flow of traffic west through each set of traffic lights. This was a safety concern as vehicles were slowed down or stopped from the queues turning right, and some vehicles were trying to change lanes at the last moment, so the new works have increased the length of the right-turn lane by reducing the width of the grass verge adjacent to car park 6 and by
narrowing car park 4 to parallel parking, resulting in a further loss of 15 spaces. I
would say that the department is faced, as we are in many places in the Island, with restricted space and we have a shared-use situation in that the avenue car parks and promenades are used by not only cyclists but pedestrians and Le Petit Train, apart from parked cars, and we have to work all these factors in and we try to get a balance
and strive to satisfy all elements of the community.
- The Deputy of St. Mary :
It was just a response and a question arising from what the Minister just said; it was very interesting, and I would like him to comment on the fact that the cycle track has been made wider; I think in the region of First Tower, it is certainly noticeably wider. Will it continue at that width in order to allow for future growth in commuting by bike and leisure by bike or will it go narrower again and did it have a bearing on the car parking spaces?
The Connétable of St. Brelade :
I think we have retained as many car parking spaces as we possibly can but, likewise, to answer the Deputy 's point specifically, we are making the cycle track as wide as we can where we can but, once again, space is very restrictive and it depends on the physical area available at the time.
- Deputy J.M. Maçon:
The Minister mentioned the reason for the reduction in the car parking spaces is due to the visibility splays that this will now provide. Can the Minister please give the Assembly the number of accidents that have occurred within the past 3 years?
The Connétable of St. Brelade :
I am happy to do so but I cannot do that without notice, I am afraid, and I shall circulate that to the Deputy later.
Deputy J.M. Maçon:
I thank the Minister for that response.