Grande Rue businesses braced for ‘crazy’ summer disruption
ST MARTIN’S businesses are bracing themselves for seven weeks of disruption as JT plans to close the main road through the parish for all of the school summer holidays.
The arterial road between M&S and La Vequesse will shut from 19 July to 3 September, while JT creates network extensions.
St Martin’s senior constable Jeff Wilkes-Green said local businesses had contacted the douzaine to raise concerns.
‘We are concerned about the length of the closure, as well as it being a summer closure, blocking a main artery through the parish, for that amount of time and in the middle of the summer,’ he said.
With border restrictions due to relax in July, he expected the parish to be busy with tourists and visitors around that time and hoped the work would be done in sections.
Senner’s Bakery owner Martin Senner said nearby businesses would be severely impacted.
‘It’s not so much the fact they are doing it, but the timing,’ he said.
‘It’s going to affect everyone. For a couple of weeks, fair enough, but the whole summer is just crazy. People won’t go through the roadworks to get to us.’
JT sent business owners a letter to say the work is going ahead in phases.
Relevant States authorities were contacted to see if the work could be completed outside of school holidays.
‘If they can do it in stages along the road then why can they not do it in stages throughout the year?’ Mr Senner said.
Both Les Camps and La Grande Rue are closing from 7 to 9 July, while Guernsey Water cleans CCTV cameras.
Mr Senner questioned why the works could not align.
‘If it’s for an essential or emergency service then that’s fine, but it’s a business doing it for profit,’ he said.
‘Perhaps if they compensated those affected it’d take two weeks and not seven.’
Ogiers Ltd director Valerie Benoist said her reaction to the closure was disbelief.
‘Closing it right in the summer will be very difficult for us,’ she said.
‘We believe the work is necessary but not an emergency. Road closures always impact on trade because we rely on people driving past. Ogiers has been here for over 50 years and we know it really does impact us.’
Tourists returning in July was something to look forward to after months of lost trade since Covid, she said.
‘We feel it’s a lot to have another large closure.’
St Martin’s Grande Rue Pharmacy pharmacist Niall Kealy said the closure would have an impact on bus services.
‘We’ve seen a plan with phases on an arterial route,’ he said.
‘It needs to be done, but in Guernsey if people can’t get there they don’t go. It’s understandable, it’s just how it is.
‘Every area in Guernsey is next to a school somehow. It’s a tough one. We do get disproportionately affected – when they do Fort Road or Forest Road it has a knock-on. There was certainly no consultation about if or when there may be a better time’
Seven bus routes will be affected – 81, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95 and N3.
Reality is disruption is necessary - JT
TELECOMMUNICATIONS firm JT is putting in place measures to minimise disruption in Grande Rue, St Martin’s, when it is closed over the summer holidays.
The telco is carrying out work to extend its network between M&S and Le Vequesse, from 19 July to 3 September.
‘JT fully appreciates that any disruption is unwelcome,’ said JT Guernsey managing director Paul Taylor.
‘To try to minimise it, we have planned the work in phases and a letter which explains what is happening was hand-delivered to every address on La Grande Rue more than two months ahead of the work starting.’
Mr Taylor said that specific questions or concerns could be answered by a team member leading the project, and JT had a helpline available too.
The road is also closed from 7 to 9 July for Guernsey Water to clean CCTV cameras.
‘We work closely where we can with other utilities in sharing works to minimise disruption and have also kept the works to the shortest time-frame possible, limiting the times they will be in effect, and provided as much access around them as we can,’ said Mr Taylor.
Environment & Infrastructure sets out official procedures, which have been followed by JT, to ensure as little disruption occurs as possible.
Already the company has invested £16m. into Guernsey’s fibre optic infrastructure, with plans for a further £1.7m. investment over the next year.
‘The last year has shown us all just how important great broadband really is, and that is exactly what JT is focused on delivering to as many islanders as possible. The reality is that we can’t build that infrastructure without some short-term disruption, but we will do all we can to minimise that, and work with the islanders affected.’
