After years of political rows, protests and fears of a £15 million “super-highway” carving through one of St Helier’s steepest roads, a very different plan for getting ambulances to Jersey’s future hospital has now been waved through…
Road changes designed to allow ambulances to safely access Jersey’s new acute hospital at Overdale have been approved by St Helier’s Roads Committee.
The plans – which replace the previous £15 million “super-highway” proposal – would instead see targeted widening works, a vehicle-activated warning system, passing places and operational controls introduced along Westmount Road.
Committee members were told that the route could “safely and reliably accommodate” forecast hospital traffic, but only if the proposed mitigation measures were put in place.
Documents prepared for the meeting described Westmount Road as “a constrained corridor” with narrow carriageways, steep gradients and a tight hairpin bend where “larger vehicles cannot easily pass at several points”.
While modelling suggested overall car traffic would remain “broadly similar” to existing levels, the key challenge identified was the increase in ambulances, buses and servicing vehicles linked to the future hospital.
“High probability of delay”
The report warned that, without intervention, there was a “high probability of delay when two large vehicles arrive within 10–15 seconds of each other” at the hairpin section, as well as the “potential for corridor blockage if a vehicle stalls on the incline at the apex”.
The most significant changes would involve widening parts of the hairpin bend and creating a 75-metre “virtual footway” controlled by passing places and priority arrangements.
This would remove “unmanaged two-way conflicts” and improve reliability for emergency access, according to the report presented to the committee.
A vehicle-activated warning system – similar to the “wig-wag” concept previously discussed – would also be installed to warn approaching motorists when ambulances or buses are travelling through the narrowest sections.
According to the documents, the enhanced system would use a combination of satellite positioning and radar detection technology, with automatic logging and queue monitoring.
The report added that “ambulance blue-light movements” would receive “consistent, unobstructed access”.
Other measures include upgraded lighting, enhanced edge protection, improved road markings and restrictions on servicing vehicles.
Hospital deliveries would be consolidated into designated time windows, while buses would operate under spacing controls designed to prevent two buses meeting on the route at the same time.
Reducing private car journeys to hospital
The plans also rely heavily on reducing private car demand associated with the hospital.
The mitigation strategy includes relocating staff parking away from Overdale, promoting public transport and active travel, and reducing on-site staff parking provision.
A separate “travel plan” would monitor staff and visitor travel patterns after the hospital opens.
Despite the interventions, the report acknowledged there would still be some residual impacts.
It stated there could be “short occasional delays” when the warning system is activated and “some slowing of general traffic during peak ambulance or bus movements”.
But the report concluded that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
“The proposed scheme enables Westmount Road to accommodate Overdale Acute Hospital’s traffic safely and reliably,” it said.
It added that, without mitigation, “the road becomes unreliable and delay-prone”, whereas the proposed measures would deliver “safe, controlled, and resilient operation”.
Implementation programme
The documents also revealed plans for a lengthy implementation programme stretching across multiple phases – including detailed design work, technology installation, testing and a 90-day “hypercare” monitoring period after opening.
Monitoring would continue at three, six and 12 months, with key performance indicators including ambulance journey reliability, bus headways, queue lengths and near-miss incidents.
The strategy sets out automatic escalation measures if problems emerge after the hospital opens.
These include intervention triggers if buses encounter each other on Westmount Road more than once a month, if queue lengths exceed 75 metres on multiple occasions, or if the warning system’s availability falls below 98%.
The report also confirms that some elements could still require further political approval.
Whilst the Roads Committee have given the green light, “alterations to Parish land will require approval from the Parish Strategy and Policy Board and may require Parish Assembly approval”.
The latest plans mark a major shift from previous proposals to transform Westmount Road into a much wider hospital access route.
Those earlier plans included a significantly expanded carriageway and dedicated active-travel corridor, prompting strong objections from nearby residents and some politicians concerned about the scale of the changes.