Roadworks in Stopford Road to last three months

Roadworks in Stopford Road to last three months

Work is due to begin to replace the 92-year-old main on Stopford Road, which links St Saviour’s Road to David Place, on Monday.

Following discussions with the Infrastructure Department and the parish of St Helier, Jersey Water, which is carrying out the work, said it intended to lay pipes simultaneously from both ends of the road to minimise disruption for residents and businesses in the area.

Stopford Road will be closed between Rue Le Masurier for the duration of the works, which are estimated to last 12 weeks.

Access to connecting roads – Common Lane, Chevalier Road and Apsley Road – will be maintained and traffic using Oxford Road will still be able to cross Stopford Road at the junction with the Jersey Masonic Temple.

The works will reduce the number of spaces available through the residents parking scheme. However, the parish said this would be managed so that no more than three spaces were lost at any one time as the new water main is laid.

A spokesman for Jersey Water said the work was essential as the existing main was 92 years old and needed replacing as a matter of urgency. ‘The current main is unlined and it is just a cast-iron pipe which is susceptible to the risk of leaking and its age could affect water quality,’ he said.

‘It is part of our planned maintenance programme, such as the work we undertook last year in Halkett Place. If it is not repaired, and we had to replace it in an emergency, the work would cause a lot more disruption.

‘We have undertaken all the necessary discussions with Infrastructure and the parish to implement a traffic-management plan that will allow us to complete the work as quickly as possible, but also allowing access to residents and businesses during the works.’

Letters had been sent to residents, he added, and staff had also hand-delivered letters to business owners this week to discuss their concerns.

The JEP contacted a number of the businesses in Stopford Road and while some said they were worried about loss of trade they declined to comment at this stage.

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