Gridlock ahead?
Thursday 30th October 2008, 3:00PM GMT.
HUNDREDS more cars will join the rush-hour traffic after the £350m financial district is built, a public inquiry has heard.
The construction of Esplanade Quarter will create an extra flow of up to 700 cars in the morning peak times and an extra flow of 500 cars in the evening rush-hour, according to engineering consultants. And major concerns were raised yesterday about the safety of Islanders walking along the Esplanade. If there is an accident in the Tunnel, emergency fire and rescue vehicles will be forced to speed down a road which is planned to be pedestrian-only.
Jersey’s first ever public inquiry, which started on Monday and will finish tomorrow, was set up due to the magnitude of a project which will affect a substantial number of Islanders. Two independent planning inspectors from the UK, Chris Shepley and Alan Langton, are examining the two applications from developers Harcourt and the Waterfront Enterprise Board.
Nearly 70 letters of representation have been received, and the inspectors have heard evidence relating to the Hopkins Architects design and the need for office, shopping and housing space on the mixed complex.
Pictured: It’s bad enough now . . . What will traffic be like when Esplanade Quarter is built?
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Walk to work or move to town – problem solved!
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please please please can we have some more traffic, i hate being at home anyway. Who wants to be in the comfort of there home when they could be stuck in traffic instead. The beautiful sounds and smells of cars and lorries and money well spent on petrol to move and stop move and stop. I love taking 40 mintues to get home on a weeknight, not that horrible weekend day when the same journey only takes 5 minutes, that makes me sick. Maybe, while we are enjoying the traffic queus we could put up paycards aswell for being allowed to use the road.
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I think it is about time the States started thinking about the quality of life in the island.
As the island has declined as a tourist destination there is less and less to do in the island particularly for children.
Salaries are high but so are property prices and many islanders now find a house in the country way out of their reach and the country is not the rural haven it was in the past.
Now they are talking about a massive project that will cause a traffic snarl up for years and then more congestion after that.
People came to Jersey because it was a finance centre without being an urban jungle. The States are rapidly removing this essential charm and I wonder how long it will be before staff start thinking that they would be better off elsewhere.
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Surley one of the main design concerns for this project will be traffic flow and consideration for parking and gridlock prevention. I would have thought this is probabaly the first thing that would have been looked at before any building design is considered. If we can not sort out the traffic and parking then the whole project will fail.
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Even worse will be the number of cars circulating around aimlessly searching for parking spaces as no provision has been made for the ordinary workers in the new office blocks. When the plans were first disclosed I questioned a Senior Planning Officer and he confirmed that all they are doing is replacing the 350 or so lost spaces from the Esplanade car park (which are already totally over-subscribed) and just adding on additional parking for the directors of the new office blocks and a few spaces for the retailers in the abattoir development. There are no additional spaces for ordinary office workers. When I questioned this further the reply I obtained was “a lack of parking spaces encourages people to be more innovative as to how they get to work”. The other solution offered was to park in Gas Place or on that side of town – not much use when you’re working around the Esplanade area. With all the millions of pounds this development is going to cost, surely adequate provision for parking shouldn’t be too much to ask for?
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I somehow doubt that Senior Planning Officers will have to worry about being innovative in how they get to work as they probably qualify for a States provided parking place.
However the lack of parking in the Esplanade Quarter coupled with the woeful bus system could do for it as a business and shopping centre.
The people who move into the apartments there will have to accept being decidedly second class citizens in an island where much of life is reliant on a car and the mobility it provides.
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Firstly, why hundreds of extra cars? Are we building hundreds of extra J-cat houses a car-ride away from the Esplanade Quarter for hundreds of new workers, who do not already commute into St Helier? Surely, most new immigrants coming to work there will be encouraged to buy the flats, that are also going up in the area, and the rest of the staff will be transferring from obsolete offices elsewhere in town.
Secondly, there certainly should be adequate parking for those who will need it. Lack of parking will neither be an attraction to potential tenants, nor, in turn, their potential employees. This needs addressing.
Thirdly, the work is going to cause long-term disruption during construction, so by the time the development is drawing commuter traffic, using the Waterfront route will be as distant a memory as driving down King Street, and regular drivers will be set in the habit of taking alternative routes.
This development is not going to be good for us, in my opinion, but let us not fret that it will be even worse than it will.
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Why does everyone have to drive to work. We need a better public transport system or why don’t you all cycle – get fix, save money, save our environment. Jersey should introduce a road tax!
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does anyone else feel as though this hasn’t really been thought out particularly well?
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As long as we don’t have to wait for hours to get in to town , and parking is provided & the beldings don’t look like the Radisson ,you will get away with it
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i cart hand tools and equipment about the town
on a daily basis.
nothing new should be built without parking for a service van.
20 mins unloading is not much use.
the other day green street was full
snow hill was full.so ended up at pier road
and a trek to the otherside of town , forgot to add gas place full.
time wasted about 1 hour, fuel wasted, carbon footprint sky high, pollution in town up
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The States have already demonstrated they can not be trusted with the waterfront, don’t expect anything fantastic or even sensible.
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I think it’s a good idea that there isn’t a provision for more parking. St Helier’s streets are too narrow for size and volume of modern traffic as it is. People will get sick of being unable to find a park and will use the buses or start walking or cycling. Well at least I hope they will.
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The problem isn’t the road system it’s the Jersey attitude to transport from those in charge and the people. More needs to be done to encourage drivers out of their cars – especially those unecessary 2 ton tanks that take up double the space than practical for getting around in Jersey.
At the same time lazy people need to find alternatives to driving themselves and/or kids 1 mile up the road; why is there grid lock when the majority of the population live in town? Those that need to drive should share transport whenever they can – it’s amazing the number of cars carrying only one person.
Chances are that if you’re complaining about the grid lock it’s because you’re part of the problem!
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As much as it pains me Blair, only the super keen cycle to work… have you taken note of the weather in Jersey !
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Right when we are headed towards a worldwide recession our politicians decide to approve a financial district! Great one guys!!!
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Providing inadequate public parking places in an effort to drive people out of their cars is not a transport policy!
Improving the bus service, encouraging car sharing, flexible working hours and home working etc is.
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The technology is there so why can’t they build parking spaces underneath the new office buildings for their staff. I for one have to drive into work because my working hours are not set. A lot of the gridlock problem is caused by constant roadworks. I mean how many times do you need to dig up the same road??!! Another part of the problem is school traffic…have you noticed how much quieter the roads are when the schools are on holiday? When I was at school everyone cycled. Maybe parents should be banned from driving kids and a better school bus system introduced.
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A note to One less car – We already pay road tax ON THE FUEL that system came in years ago and although I agree it is better than a one off payment each year and concentrates on distance travelled not car type it has been secretly pushed up year on year, if your car so happens to be a GAS GUZZLER you pay at the pumps for the extra! if you live out of town with young children or elderley family you have no option but to drive a car. This new development is another back hander in my opinion there should be more concentration on keeping green open spaces not increasing the amount of buildings the town is already cluttered with! look most of the shops are going to be migrating to the new shopping centre and the old town will probably start dying out like so many other shopping centres have in the UK why not use the vacant lots and keep the town alive throughout
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Convert lower west park to temporary parking for a few years (oh, what about the battle, they’ll cry – well, to use their words, they’ll have to be more innovative).
Then dig up the whole of People’s Park and create a two-level car park underground, accessed from the esplanade, exiting onto cheapside or inner road.
No stay longer than 18 hours so people can’t use it for their home car park space.
Could accommodate a thousand cars I reckon.
And then build the waterfront.
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Do what we did… move to Australia. Parking a plenty over here!!!
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Why not use the £350 million to build a rail system throughout the island – such as a mono-rail. This is not only more cost effective than the road system, but would also be good for tourism and is more green. They could install “park and ride” systems in the Parishes so that people could park their cars out of the main town and catch the mono-rail into town itself. If there was a regular service this would really take off I believe.
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‘Do what we did… move to Australia. Parking a plenty over here!!!’
I did but there ain’t much free parking in Sydney and its also gridlock at rush hour! Towns the world over are the same so I’m guessing you live in the sticks
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No point taxing drivers more or putting up parking prices to discourage people using their cars because the rich can afford these extra charges and the rich will just continue to do what they want. Only the poor get penalised by these types of systems and end up being made to feel like second class citizens.
Why not start making people that earn huge salaries in St Helier LIVE in the centre of St Helier? Leave those that don’t have ridiculously over-inflated salaries alone (inc those that work in St Helier but earn a pittance).
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To beat the traffic problem i would suggest to those moaners to get up an hour earlier and cycle to work, yes its a bit of hard going in winter but in summer its relaxing and keeps you fit. I cycle from st Clement to St Brelade daily, unless its blowing a gale only then do i get out the motor,for those who say well i can’t cycle because i have to drop the kids off at school encourage them to cycle with you or ask them to get the school bus, if you cannot shower when you get to work ask your boss to provide you with facilities, a good boss should encourage this type of fitness in his staff,just change your lifestyle dont be a slave to the motor car.
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Can somebody please explain where these extra cars and drivers are to come from?
Mass immigration? A bridge to France? A rising birth rate?
There are only so many jobs in finance. A financial quarter may focus and improve the working of the finance industry, it will not make it larger.
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Parking should not be an issue, more will be built under the new quarter (it is in the master plan). As to traffic, there is never a problem when the schools are on holidays. There must be a solution to this obvious problem. Also we should encourage the use of motorbikes. They make so much sense for an island. It needs to be made cheaper and easier for existing car drivers to be able to get on a scooter.
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As far as the grand plans are concerned most locals will be familiar with promises of building contractors to make adding parking but then reducing the planned parking instead to get one more unit built in place, beleive it only when it is there. Of course there is also the risk of flooding given that it will all be below water level.
As to the use of bikes motorised or otherwise according to the British Motor Users Association, because of inconsiderate drivers it is not if, but when you will get knocked off your bike these days under those conditions would you ride. I used to ride everywhere but am now just too bothered by the way idiots are driving to risk it.
Just my two pennies worth
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Mr sensible-there are no school buses for primary school children.
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Alexa . well start a campaign for primary school buses, my children have now grown up but when they were younger we used to walk them to school or share with neighbours making sure they get to and from school safely, the main problem with traffic at schools these days are bone idle lazy parents who cannot be bothered to leave the cars at home and walk the children to school,take a look at some of the parents and see that most of them are obese because they cannot be bothered to get out of the car routine, which in turn is leading to their children becoming the same unfit and fat.
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Mr Sensible, I do agree with you in principle but in practice it is not so easy. I drive to work purely because it is too far to walk (plus I am 7 months pregnant!) I tend to drop my children off on the way to work and they walk from the drop off point to the school (15 minute walk). I have tried to put them on the 1 bus which goes past our house before and it has gone past them because it was already full on many occasions. Until we get a decent bus service for both general public AND school children, people will continue to drive kids to school as it the most reliable method of getting them there safely. However, if they live within walking distance I agree they should make the effort although with our weather deteriorating and being unreliable I cannot see that happening either !
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Amen Mr Sensible
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Dissapointed in JSY,
Yes i somewhat agree with you and i can see you try your hardest, especially as you are pregnant no one would expect you to walk miles,but parents should get on to their local States members and press for a better bus service, we have voted them in so they should work for us , dont be fobbed off by some of these politicians who come out with the old excuses like (“i sympathise with you but”)
these type of politicians are not worth the time of day. As for my statement about lots of parents being bone idle and lazy and cannot be bothered about getting out of their cars and walk the children to school still stands just watch at any school and see the amount of flabby people behind the wheel eating mars bars at half eight in the morning, i bet 70% of these parents are within 15 mins walking distance to the school.
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