Year-long road closure aims to get pupils walking

Wednesday 03 April 2019

A St. Clement road will close from today as part of a year-long trial to get more students walking to and from school.

For the next 12 months, Rue de Maupertuis will be closed to through traffic, although drivers will still have access to premises.

The closure comes as part of the 'Safer Routes to School Programme', which aims to get more students to use a more active way to get to school, while ensuring pedestrian and cyclist safety.

Pictured: Rue de Maupertuis, which is used by students of two nearby primary schools and one secondary school.

Following consultations between the Parish and the Growth, Housing and Environment Department and nearby residents and schools, the decision was taken to close the road in a move hoped to benefit students of primary schools St. Clement's and Samares, and Le Rocquier secondary school.

The impact of the change will be measured in a survey of the roads before and after the road's closure, which will help officials to decide whether it should be made permanent.

“Rue de Maupertuis is a popular route used by students from two primary schools and Le Rocquier Secondary School. It isn’t right that these pupils walking and cycling have to compete for space with drivers using the narrow lane as a short cut,” St. Clement Constable Len Norman said.

Rob Hayward, Senior Transport Planner, added: “We have liaised with the schools and anticipate that the closure will have a minimal impact on motorists but a positive impact for students, who should be able to feel safe when travelling to school.”