Deputy Russell Labey, who brought a proposition to change the flow of traffic last summer, said a risk was still being posed to residents and pedestrians by Route 1 Gorey-bound buses mounting the pavement. And he suggested that the route might even be improved by being redirected.
Regular complaints have been made about drivers ignoring the new one-way system. St Helier honorary police have said that ten drivers have been warned to appear at parish hall inquiries for driving the wrong way down the road.
‘It is still a work in progress and I am grateful to the Infrastructure Minister [Kevin Lewis] and the Constable [Simon Crowcroft] for taking the opportunity to put the one-way system in place,’ Deputy Labey said.
‘It is good now that it is being policed and it does take a while for these things to sink in and for habits to change.
‘But we still have an issue with buses mounting the pavement, and the object of the exercise was to make the road much safer for pedestrians. What we need is a better road layout to make it more attractive to pedestrians but if buses were not going both ways, then some people would complain about that.’
During the implementation of the 2019 temporary one-way system, which inspired Deputy Labey to lodge a successful proposition to make it permanent, eastbound Route 1 buses travelled up Conway Street, around Library Place and up Pier Road, rather than travelling up Castle Street and through the Tunnel.
And Deputy Labey said the temporary diversion might have actually improved the service and implemented a bus route in an otherwise unserved area.
‘There are alternatives. When the buses ran via Pier Road instead, they travelled via Library Place and allowed people to jump on at the Royal Square, which proved quite popular,’ he said.
‘It also meant that those people living at Haut du Mont and Mount Bingham were able to catch the bus home with their shopping rather than having to walk up the hill.
‘But there are also some disadvantages with that, as some people cannot get dropped off in the middle of Green Street.’
The Deputy added that he did not want to force any changes to the bus route but rather inform Route 1 bus users about the problems faced by Green Street residents
‘It is going to take some time. I do not want to railroad bus users,’ he said.
‘The problem with Green Street issue is that it was brought up continually in the States but the situation has been ignored for too long. The residents have felt unsafe and it is unpleasant living with that volume of traffic.’
LibertyBus declined to comment.
