Commuters take to their bikes and feet after Grange junction closure

Tuesday 19 March 2024

The complete closure of the Doyle Road and Grange junction has led to a big increase in cycling and walking to work and school down the Grange, a charity has said.

The Better Journey Project conducted one of its monthly traffic monitoring sessions at the junction during the morning commute on Friday.

The Grange saw a 60% increase in pedestrians and a 118% increase in cyclists this month – one every 45 seconds between 07:30 and 09:00. 

Monitoring at the Red Lion where there were no road works showed almost identical journey patterns to February.

Mark Smith who was doing the Grange monitoring said: “The atmosphere was really good with commuters and school children looking relaxed, many with smiles on their faces. 

“Seeing large numbers of the cycling commuters riding ebikes and being dressed ready for work, shows that commuting by bike isn’t just for experienced cyclists.

“Islanders seem to be making the best of the road closure by taking advantage of the increased safety and the ability to cycle through by switching to walking and cycling. The workmen here have told me that it was even busier yesterday and on Wednesday and talking to passers-by they like this more relaxed way of getting to school and work.” 

Barrie Duerden, a member of The Better Journey Project said: “Looking at the traffic down the Charroterie and Candie Road as well, while single occupancy cars traffic increased there, it was almost balanced out by an increase in pedestrians and cyclists there and down the Grange: we saw an increase of 373 active travellers, which is 50% up on last month’s levels.  

“This backs up anecdotal evidence of a surge on eBike sales locally and we really hope that the States of Guernsey will look at this and try to promote more separation of walking and cycling from vehicles. 

“We would also encourage commuters and school children who can, to permanently switch to active travel, bus use and lift sharing, particularly as the weather improves.  We would love islanders to carry on walking and cycling even when the roads are open and another incentive to start would be during Alternative Transport Week from 20th to 26th May, where we are hoping that organisations will also incentive their people to get involved.”

The Better Journey Project has been working with a team of over 50 dedicated volunteers to monitor commuter traffic in a disciplined and consistent manner on 17 specific days over the last 2 years.