Man fears lives are at risk after road near misses

A Jersey man says he fears lives could be lost near his home after witnessing several near misses at a road junction.

Chris Band has raised safety concerns about the junction of James Road and Le Mont Pinel since 2020, blaming an increase in the use of quicker e-bikes and a lack of clear signage.

Band said: "It's been loads of near misses and I'm just really, really worried that there's going to be a fatal collision... Somebody's going to get seriously hurt unless something is done."

The Executive Officer of St Saviour, Marco Vieira, said he would like to work with the Infrastructure & Environment Department and the Parish of St Helier to decide if a review of the junction was necessary.

The Government of Jersey's Infrastructure and Environment Department is responsible for main roads, and the 12 individual parishes have responsibility for secondary roads.

If changes were to be made to the junction between James Road and Le Mont Pinel, it would be down to the parishes of St Helier and St Saviour.

However, Vieira said the issues raised would be best dealt with through a collaborative approach between the parishes, supported by Infrastructure & Environment.

He said this would be best because of the "department's strategic role in relation to road safety and the Island's Cycling Strategy".

Changes such as enhanced or repositioned signage, revised road markings, build-outs to narrow the junction mouth, or the introduction of a raised junction treatment to reinforce priority and moderate vehicle speeds were suggested by Vierira.

But these would need to be introduced following a review of the junction from a traffic engineering and road safety perspective.

Band said: "It's not rocket science. It's not going to take much.

"You'll see there was a yellow line there that's worn away; they put a white one. People may not understand that as much. It's got to be made a lot clearer to the motorists coming up this way."

Road traffic collision (RTC) data held for St Saviour indicated that there had been 383 recorded road traffic collisions over 10 years, with only one reported incident on James Road involving a pedal cycle.

This accounts for nearly 0.3% of the recorded collisions from the data.

More than 80% of the RTCs were classified within the "slight" casualty severity category.

Mr Vieira said: "While this does not diminish the importance of addressing perceived safety concerns, it does emphasise the importance of an evidence-led assessment when considering any potential intervention."

He added they would welcome the chance to work with all parties to determine clarity on what "may reasonably be progressed" for the junction.

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