St Andrew’s filter ‘should calm traffic’

The new filter will be installed on Tuesday on the St Andrew’s Road/Candie Road/La Vassalerie crossroads.

St Andrew’s rector and Dean of Guernsey the Rev. Tim Barker lives nearby at the parish rectory and said it was a very difficult junction.

‘The filter is very good news, and I’m absolutely delighted to see it installed,’ he said.

He said the filter would be a useful check on vehicle speed as they approach.

Nearby resident Simon Bougourd said most locals were supportive.

‘You won’t find many people around here that think the filter is a bad idea,’ he said.

Mr Bougourd and neighbours Ric Wharton and Simon Kirkpatrick have been witness to many ‘distressing’ accidents over the years. Often, Mr Wharton said the residents were first on the scene of accidents.

Since moving into the Chain House on the corner of the junction in 1984, Mr Wharton said there had been two fatal collisions and a number of injuries.

‘It’s horrible to see and hear these things, and it happens so often,’ said Mr Wharton. ‘Once there was a motorcyclist with a broken leg in the junction for two hours. We were the first ones on the scene.’

Mr Bougourd’s 11- and 13-year- old daughters were nearly hit waiting for their school bus by a vehicle speeding through the junction.

‘The filter should slow cars down and prevent a lot of bad accidents so long as it’s signposted correctly,’ Mr Bougourd said.

Mr Wharton agreed that the filter would calm traffic in the area.

‘Right now people see the straight road and drive far too quickly. There are blind turns coming onto the main road – people coming from La Vassalerie don’t stand a chance. I really think the filter will solve the problem and save lives,’ he said.

Neighbour Simon Kirkpatrick said that something certainly had to be done about the junction.

‘There have been three accidents in three months. I’m not sure if a filter is the right thing to do, but something has to be done,’ said Mr Kirkpatrick.

He believes the States should consider making the speed limit along the entirety of St Andrew’s Road 25mph. Currently, there’s a small area between St Peter Port and the local school that is signposted as 35mph.

Mr Wharton thanked Environment & Infrastructure president Lindsay de Sausmarez and senior traffic services officer Mark Brockway for their help in getting a filter for the junction. Mr Barker thanked the parish constables as well.

‘I’m grateful to them getting this done,’ Mr Wharton said. ‘The filter is a peculiar little Guernsey invention and I think it will be very effective at this junction.’

Four road traffic incidents happened on the junction last year. Environment & Infrastructure has not been able to supply any details of the incidents, but confirmed they took place in March, September and November.