The local clothes shop has been trading from the Vazon site for nearly 30 years, but owner Caroline La Touche said consecutive road closures around the area, lasting a total of 10 weeks, have cut her business by about two-thirds.
Sous les Courtils, connecting the area with Albecq, and its junction with Rue des Goddards, have been closed for weeks and are expected to remain shut for another fortnight while work continues to replace a faulty sub-station and a high-voltage cable.
Mrs La Touche blamed inadequate diversion signs, which tell drivers to access Smilers through the narrow, two-way Route de la Mare, but offer no further direction on how to locate said road – failing to signal a necessary turn onto La Rocquette, off the coast road.
She said most people, even locals, would not know how to find the small lane.
‘All I’m asking for is proper signage,’ she said.
‘I don’t think it’s a big thing to ask to keep small businesses in Guernsey going.’
Mrs La Touche said she has asked for an arrow to highlight the turning onto La Rocquette, but Traffic and Highways has insisted that its current diversion is correct.
Despite efforts from the president of the Environment & Infrastructure Committee, Deputy Adrian Gabriel, she said the signs remained unclear.
‘The signage is useless, nobody knows where Route de la Mare is,’ she said.
‘It’s a small, narrow lane on a sharp bend. I told them it’s dangerous.
‘You’ve got big lorries going through that lane and there’s not really anywhere to tuck in.’
Mrs La Touche said her small business relies heavily on proper signage.
‘We’re in the middle of nowhere,’ she said.
‘Some customers who’ve persevered have told us we’re lucky they found us, but most people haven’t bothered.
‘In 43 years in business, and 29 years at Vazon, I have never had an issue with traffic. Of course we’ve always had road closures but the signage was all good. It just feels that Traffic and Highways are not prepared to do it properly.’
The States has been approached for comment.
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