The closure of Les Gigands led to congestion in the north of the island.
COMMUTERS faced long delays yesterday as traffic bottlenecked around St Peter Port.
Some of the worst queues were around King’s Road, Rue a l’Or, Route Isabelle and Le Foulon.
At 8.30am queues stretched from the Mount Row traffic lights to the Foulon Cemetery. The problems were caused by the closure of Bailiff’s Cross Road, and exacerbated by the closure of York Avenue for hedges to be cut back.
Cars parked in King’s Road, Rue a l’Or and Route Isabelle added to the problems and police had to direct traffic to get the flow moving.
Sergeant Tom Marshall said there were several factors that led to the delays.
‘We did have a number of calls from the public about the problems,’ he said.
‘The combination of York Avenue and Bailiff’s Cross being closed led to problems. There were also two cars that were parked legally in the area, and that was an aggravating factor.’
He hoped drivers would be prepared for any further problems.
‘Islanders need to leave early, and keep the road closures in mind,’ he said.
‘People should consider taking a different route.’
Roads in the Vale and St Sampson’s were also clogged up due to the closure of Gigands Road. The road will be closed until 1 November while it is resurfaced. This has caused problems for pupils travelling to St Sampson’s High School and extensive diversions run along Petites Capelles and Braye Road.
On Monday the Environment Department said it was pleased that motorists had been following diversions around the roadworks at Bailiff’s Cross.
However, yesterday nobody from the department was available to comment.
* York Avenue has now reopened, but work at Bailiff’s Cross will continue for six weeks. Les Gigands is shut for another week. Visit www.iris.gov.gg for further details.
Article posted on 21st October, 2009 - 2.29pm
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