Pavement driving defended as roads under pressure
BBCA committee has defended its approach to the growing issue of vehicles mounting pavements in an island community, saying it was unavoidable in some places.
After a question from Deputy Ross Le Brun, Guernsey's Environment and Infrastructure Committee said there was no single solution to road safety challenges.
Le Brun asked why the committee had not carried out a specific risk assessment, safety analysis or monitoring programme.
Committee President Adrian Gabriel said many of the island's roads were "historic, narrow, and constrained" by buildings, walls and limited pavement space; and, in some locations, vehicles could not pass each other without one mounting the footpath.
Gabriel said road safety risks were assessed through a range of measures, including road safety reviews, site assessments, collision data, traffic management decisions, engineering schemes, education and enforcement.
He also confirmed that "no specific risk assessment, safety analysis or monitoring programme was undertaken solely in relation to the Highway Code guidance on pavement driving", but added that did not mean risks were not being managed.
The committee recognised safety concerns, particularly on narrow roads and in areas used by "children, older people, people with disabilities and other vulnerable road users", Gabriel said.
Gabriel said increasing vehicle sizes and traffic levels placed additional pressure on the network.
However, he also said it would not be realistic to remove pavement driving across the island in the short-term because major highway changes required design work, consultation, funding and construction.
Instead, the committee said resources would continue to be focused on locations where vulnerable road users faced the greatest risk.
A new Road Infrastructure and Improvement Plan was also being developed to help guide future transport priorities, it said.
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