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1240/5(7798)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY G.C.L. BAUDAINS OF ST. CLEMENT
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 10th SEPTEMBER 2013
Question
With regard to the Minister's decision to prevent vehicles turning left into St. Clement 's Road from La Route du Fort, would he confirm that this was at the request of St. Luke's school and will he agree that as traffic will now use alternative routes such as Dicq Road, Elizabeth Street and Beach Road (all of which pass much closer to the school) the end result achieves nothing?
Did the Minister not consider a better option would have been to ask the children to use Dunnell Road and, if necessary, supply a pedestrian crossing there?
Would the Minister further confirm that his officers conducted a traffic count at this junction and could he advise whether this was undertaken in term-time and whether the number of children (and their approximate ages) was counted at the same time and, if not, why not?
Finally, would the Minister be willing to provide a breakdown of how many children normally use the Route du Fort junction, compared with those who use Dicq Road and Beach Road, and advise whether or not they are accompanied by adults?
Answer
St Lukes School recently prepared a school travel plan and one of the issues that was raised by the pupils was the difficulty in crossing St Clement Road, south of Route du Fort. School travel plans are something we promote to encourage active travel for young people and form part of the Sustainable Transport Policy approved by the States in December 2010. Chapter 5 of that document also states that improved pedestrian facilities should be provided in the town area.
In response to the issue, the highways and traffic engineers in Transport and Technical Services investigated the various alternatives (including Dunnell Road). The option of providing a pedestrian stage across the southern leg of the junction was the option recommended to me as being the most appropriate means by which improved facilities could be provided in the area. The left turn from Route du Fort into St Clement Rd has been prohibited to facilitate the pedestrian crossing on the southern leg, without reducing the overall capacity of the junction. The number of vehicles previously turning left was very low (approx. 8 per hour) and therefore the increase in traffic movements on the 5 alternative roads will be negligible.
Traffic surveys, including pedestrian counts, were carried out as part of the investigatory work undertaken by my officers. It was not considered appropriate, necessary, or practicable, to record the ages of pedestrians using the junction. All volume surveys carried out for the purposes of permanent changes to the road network are carried out in term time.
The Department is unable to provide the information requested in the last question, but can provide a spread sheet of all pedestrians surveyed using the junction if required.