St Helier Road Closures to Persist Overnight Following Sinkhole and Building Instability

Sections of the St Helier ring road, specifically Clarendon Road and La Pouquelaye, are to remain inaccessible until Thursday afternoon. This ongoing closure is attributed to an unstable building. A sinkhole formed under the road on Rouge Bouillon, resulting from a burst water main that Jersey Water confirmed was repaired on Wednesday afternoon. This incident led to the development of cracks in the walls of the structure situated at the intersection of Clarendon Road and Rouge Bouillon, near the base of La Pouquelaye. Jersey Water issued an apology, while the government expressed continued apprehension regarding the compromised building. Consequently, certain road sections are slated to remain closed until at least 13:00 GMT on Thursday. Islanders were advised to steer clear of the vicinity, with assurances that monitoring would persist. It was also stated that occupants of adjacent properties are permitted to access their residences, and Jersey Water intends to provide ongoing updates to these individuals. In related news, all schools are scheduled to operate on Thursday. Parents were encouraged to walk if feasible and to anticipate further communications from their respective schools. Specifically, parents of Janvrin school students were directed to park at Waitrose and proceed on foot via Drury Lane and College Gardens for drop-offs. Parents associated with d’Auvergne were instructed to either walk or drive using Lower King’s Cliff. Jersey Water confirmed that the burst water main in the Rouge Bouillon area, close to the bottom of La Pouquelaye, has undergone repairs. The utility company stated, “We are now actively working with the infrastructure department, the emergency services and other utilities to assess the immediate vicinity.” It further reported that agency personnel are evaluating the damage to a proximate building in an effort to “understand the cause,” and a commercial establishment has been relocated temporarily from its site “to ensure public safety.” The segment of road situated between Midvale Road and Palmyra Road will stay closed until all requisite investigations are finalized, according to the statement. “We recognise that this is a very busy area of St Helier and we are jointly working to get the road open as quickly as possible. We thank the public for their patience and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.” Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.