‘Why is the work taking so long?’
Wednesday 6th January 2010, 1:00PM GMT.
FORT ROAD businesses are bracing themselves for a quiet month while the road is resurfaced.
It closed on Monday and will not reopen until 7 February.
The diversion goes through St Martin’s village to Ruettes Brayes and then back up Colborne Road.
Fermain Valley Hotel general manager Mike Conrad-Pickles (pictured) is concerned it will damage his business.
‘It is a quiet time of year, but we would still normally get passing trade,’ he said. ‘Our biggest worry is that people will think they cannot get here.’
He said the States had assured him that customers would be able to get to the hotel from the Sausmarez Manor end.
He was concerned about the amount of time it was taking.
‘Four weeks seems like a long time to do this kind of work,’ he said.
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I agree with Mike totally, four weeks does seem like a long time for the work to take place but fear it’ll be more like seven weeks as today when I walked passed, there were no workers in sight. At this point all the snow had melted. Do the states employees not work when it’s cold?!!!
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We are all strange people: that is to say in the way in which we think, or even re-act to happenings.
I will endeavour to explain this; thus allowing those who so wish to ridicule my little posting-
It will take time to re-surface certain roads- because as yet it isn’t possible to put wings on the cars so that they can fly over.
Now comes the part that I love: the roads are being repaired because many complaints have come to notice of the poor state of the roads: So they repair those faults.
Into this awful wait and days of resurfacing, come another little bit of unthaught items.
If the roads weren’t repaired, an awful lot of men would be out of work, thus putting another burden on the taxpayer, helping out of work people with financial help
Yet because some motorist cannot use the roads, complaints arise.
May I just say “Grow Up,” let the work go on wherever it is needed.
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Eric, I don’t think the issue is with the work being undertaken, rather that Guernsey suffers badly from ’5 men, 1 shovel, 1/2 a hole’ mentality.
If it were my business being damaged by slow moving public works, I would be asking questions. There is a distinctly arrogant attitude of faceless and therefore inviolate inefficiency that seems to pervade this type of public sector work which public services would do well to persuade the tax paying public (I presume that includes you?) that they are being as efficient as possible in such work.
Although the issues are different to motorway construction which is measured in kilometres per day, it’s difficult to see how ANY type of small roadwork could take 4+ weeks in Guernsey. I assume the contractor has the appropriate plant to hand, they have the people scheduled to turn up for a full day’s work and they have men & machines choreographed to do the job and get out of the way as soon as possible. So, just a couple of day’s closure then eh? And sorry for the inconvenience.
Any complaints please address c/o White Rock caff….
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all you people that are complaining about the work do you really understand what work needs to be done i think not why dont you get out your cosey little office and try the job yourselves i think then you would reconcider what you say for starters in england they have machines that cover the whole road surface and also have a couple hundred employeys on one job not 10 or 12 men.
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becks
With your obvious understanding of laying roads and how long it should all take, can you enlighten us all to the exact process so we will all be informed as to how long the job should take?
Or are you just another one of the “in the uk” lets compare.
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bcb
All I know is that driving around roadworks in the past there are an alarming number of holes without workers. As you have cleverly diagnosed, I’m not an expert in hole digging, but I’ve yet to hear of one that digs itself….
When there is a knock on effect to business and lives around such works, one would hope that the people managing the disruption would ensure that the job is done as quickly as possible, if that means overtime (real overtime, not fantasy salary boosters) particularly when it involves one of the island’s main road arteries. Would you agree with me that there must be at least 1,000 people inconvenienced twice a day by this particular diversion?
Maybe there is a new underground network of pipes being laid underneath the road which could warrant a team of workers taking 20 working days each to join up? In which case I take it all back about this particular case and look forward to future discussions about hole digging & hot tar buckets.
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