Jersey eastern cycle path won't be like west, minister says

It would be difficult for a cycle path in the east of the island to replicate the cycle tracks connecting western parishes to town, Jersey's Minister for Infrastructure has said.A recent freedom of information request revealed the States of Jersey has spent nearly £2.5m funding an Eastern Cycle Network.Constable Andy Jehan said recently this money has been spent on "steady improvements" to the Gorey part of the cycle path, including new signs.He said work on the Eastern Cycle Network was "progressing well" but acknowledged there was "more to do".
'Safe routes'
Previous governments had hoped a cycle track would extend from the east of the island to the centre of town.In the west of the island, there is an equivalent traffic-free path that travels along the south coast from St Aubin into St Helier.Jehan said the government was focusing on identifying safe routes for people to cycle on as part of an eastern cycle route.He said: "In the longer term, when we look at the sea coast defences then we will be able to do something more substantial. "In the short term we are looking to find ways where we can encourage people to use quiet roads and lanes to get from A to B."He said the infrastructure department was currently working with Grouville and St Saviour's parish road committees to make it easier for people to get from Gorey to St Saviour's school.He said it had also put up signs and made it easier to cycle on Maupertuis Lane.
In the 2024 Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 8% of people who responded said they cycled to work. This was a 2% increase from the year before.
Aaron Lappage, who runs a bike shop in St Helier, said he doesn't think much work has been done on the eastern cycle route in Jersey.He said it was easier for commuters to get into town from the west of the island than those based in the east.There should be more, quieter routes for cyclist cycling from the eastern parishes into St Helier, he added.He also suggested that the two roads from St Helier to the east, La Route du Fort and the coast road, each be made one-way. One travelling into town, the other travelling out."We have too many car on the road and that's the thing," he said."In Europe, you get a lot of civil planning being done around the bicycle first. The car doesn't have that first priority, cycling and walking does - that's where you can make a safer network."
Peter Hargreaves, a keen cyclist who lives in Grouville, said "not nearly enough" has been done on the Eastern Cycle Network.He said there was not enough space in the east of the island to create a separate cycle path, so the government should focus on connecting parish by-roads and lanes.He also said speed limits on parish roads should be reduced to keep cyclists safe."The injury rate here on the roads is worse even than the UK, it's atrocious, it's appalling and it is unacceptable," he said."People are forced off the road by injuries from being cyclists."

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