Diversion route residents are fed up with speeding traffic
PEOPLE living along the diversion route while Cobo coast road is one-way say it has proved to them that closing the main road for more al fresco dining will cause increased traffic that the road past their homes cannot cope with.
Repair work on the wall in front of the Cobo Bay Hotel began during the first week of May, and it was announced on 20 May that about three more weeks of work would need to be carried out.
Now the work is in its 12th week, the road is still one-way heading north, with a diversion taking traffic through Rue de Bouverie.
Following complaints from residents that drivers were not sticking to the temporary 20mph speed limit, police are carrying out speed checks and have been requested to monitor the area.
However, residents of Rue de Bouverie have said the volume of traffic now passing through was getting ridiculous and had no doubts that the majority were easily exceeding the temporary speed limit.
Michele and Roger Robilliard were worried that if talks about closing the Cobo coast road to allow for more socialising front came to fruition, their previously quiet road would be used for cars to speed along as a diversion constantly.
‘This used to be a quiet lane but now there are hundreds and hundreds of cars that pass through, and hardly any of them stick to the speed limit,’ Mrs Robilliard said.
‘We understand that the repair work has to be carried out, but this has given us a good insight as to what it would be like if they closed the coast road more often or during the summer months.’
The couple have lived in Rue de Bouverie for 36 years with their daughter, Kirstie, and have spoken to several neighbours about the issues over the last 12 weeks.
Mr Robilliard said neighbours had described the diversion as a ‘nightmare’ for the residents and they were fed up with it.
Over the weekend, emergency repairs had to be made to the electricity cable along Rue de Bouverie, meaning it was closed, with two-way traffic allowed temporarily along the coast road.
The residents described it as ‘bliss’, ‘paradise’ and ‘back to normal’ without the loud, constant, heavy traffic.
They recognised Cobo was a lovely area and were not surprised so many people wanted to head to the beach or nearby restaurants, but the commercialisation of the area would be at the expense of islanders who lived nearby.
Kath Pearson has always lived at Cobo and has lived in the house that she and her husband built on Rue de Bouverie when they got married more than 50 years ago.
‘No way are people sticking to the 20mph limit,’ she said.
‘We’ve got trees and bushes out the front which shelter us from some of the noise but the heavy traffic – particularly the motorbikes – make a lot of noise, and it is constant through the day and night.’
She said it was a shame that what was once a quiet lane in the Cobo village was now being treated as a main road and, although it would be difficult, it has made her consider having to move.
‘Drivers also cut the corners and come round them so fast and hit that long straight patch of road – I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them reach 60mph.
‘It’s very frightening, and dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, but you can’t say anything because you’ll get a mouthful back, you know.’
. The more frequent coast road closure was the idea of Guernsey Bicycle Group chairman Sam Field, who would like it shut in the evenings Wednesday to Friday and on Saturday and Sunday from lunchtime until the evening in the summer.
