One islander who alerted the Guernsey Press said that the contractor for Guernsey Electricity had offered to dig the trench wider to accommodate Guernsey Water’s work, but the utility is using its own contractor.
They also complained that residents were supposed to have two weeks’ notice, but instead were given just a few days.
Guernsey Water operations manager Jon Holt said utilities tried to coordinate works wherever possible to minimise disruption, but this was not always feasible or practical.
‘We are always mindful of the disruption caused by road closures and plan our works to minimise that as best we can. So where possible we will carry out work while another utility has a closure in place, however that is not always possible, as in this instance with Guelles Lane.
‘Our closure is to replace the water main in Guelles Lane. This runs along the opposite side of the lane to the electricity works, so it was not as simple as digging a wider trench. That would mean excavating the full width of the road, which clearly is not practical or cost-effective.
‘It is also not always practical to have two contractors working simultaneously on different projects in the same road. For instance, one may involve installing services to properties that would mean working not just alongside but across the other contractor. Clearly that is not ideal.’
In a letter to residents, contractor Geomarine said that due to the nature of the works, no vehicle movements would be able to directly pass the works area, including outside of site hours, apart from emergency access. Pedestrian access to businesses will also be maintained.
Geomarine will begin work today.
Work will start at the junction of Mont Arrive and continue into Guelles Lane, and are estimated to take approximately two weeks to complete.
This weekend, access on to Mont Arrive will be available to turn up the hill. It will close totally on Monday.
‘When the road reopens, it will be subject to embargo on any further closures for three years, other than for emergencies. Therefore as we have work to carry out in Guelles Lane, the opportunity to do that is now,’ said Mr Holt.
‘That unfortunately has meant delaying the reopening of Mont Arrive by three days, while we carry out the work at the junction, and Guelles Lane by a further fortnight to replace the existing water main. However it will avoid a similar length closure in the future.
‘We apologise for any disruption caused.’