Two incidents reported since Salerie road layout change
JUST two incidents that directly involve the Salerie Corner junction have been reported to police since the road layout change – and both happened in the month following its opening.
The layout, which gave priority to cyclists and pedestrians, opened on 24 November 2016, but the project costs escalated largely as a result of safety concerns.
CCTV was installed at a capital cost of £6,011 – it has only been referred to twice, an access to information request from the Guernsey Press has revealed.
‘One incident involved a driver who was confused by the new layout and drove along the cycle path after exiting the junction. The driver was given words of advice and no further action was taken,’ said police.
‘The second involved a cyclist who, riding along the cycle path towards the junction saw a car start to manoeuvre and thinking that they might be hit, applied their brakes very hard and fell from their bicycle as they had shoes attached to their pedals.
‘There was no collision. CCTV cameras were reviewed, words of advice were given to the driver and no further action was taken.’
Police had initially declined to answer the questions, citing the amount of time it would take to check their records about the junction.
They also declined to release images of two near misses that had been reported to the Guernsey Press.
It was as a result of them raising safety concerns about the reprioritisation of traffic that the CCTV was agreed to by Environment & Infrastructure and other changes made to the original design.
The CCTV is not routinely monitored, the information request has shown.
‘The purpose of the CCTV is to capture any evidence post-incident.’
Changes to Salerie Corner ended up costing £114,000, jumping from an initial estimate of £50,000.
A review commissioned after concerns about the cost increase pinned the late decision to change priority as a major factor.
When the police found out about the change, the force raised ‘a strong representation’ that the revised arrangement, with cycle priority, put more vulnerable road users at great risk.
A safety audit then had to be carried out, extra CCTV was installed and so too were additional lights, signs and markings and tactile paving.
What are your experiences of the junction? Please get in touch through newseditor@guernseypress.com
