IT has been said more than once that Jersey does not have a traffic problem – it has a parking problem.

Motorists who find themselves trapped in rush-hour queues might question this, but there is a hefty measure of truth in the notion as far as St Helier is concerned. Local gridlock is anything but uncommon when sufficient people are driving around in circles looking for on-street parking spaces.

The multi-storey car parks and others such as those at Snow Hill and on the Esplanade clearly do much to ease congestion, but recent moves to allow town residents to find suitable parking spaces have contributed to the general problem. Allocating areas for resident parking has manifestly reduced the number of spaces available for shoppers and others visiting St Helier.

On first principles, the effort to ease the parking difficulties of those who reside in town is both laudable and worthwhile. It ties in with one of the chief goals of St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft – the development of an urban community which is, in as many ways as possible, a congenial place in which to live. Suitable parking spaces in our car-dependent society are very much part of the package.

Unfortunately, the law of unintended consequences has made its usual mischief – the good news for car-owning residents having been paralleled by bad news for a great many other motorists, who, it must be noted, have also been hit by parking charge increases far above the rate of inflation.

Few would suggest that anything should be done to reverse the present residents’ parking policy, but the broader picture must be examined before any new zones are designated.

More importantly, it is time for a fresh look at the whole question not only of town parking and congestion but also of Island transport in the round. The States – and in particular Transport and Technical Services – are well aware of this, which is why the issue has been earmarked as a priority to be tackled in the period running up to the next elections.

In due course, Transport will produce their long-promised report on this set of knotty problems – problems which affect so many Islanders in their routine daily lives and which so many would so eagerly like to see ameliorated through new and imaginative initiatives.