Cars will give way to cabin cruisers and harbour equipment as more than 100 parking spaces on the East Arm of the North Beach go from next week (8 January) to allow for the replacement of two large pontoons in the the QEII marina.
The pontoons in the QEII Marina have been there since it was built in the 1980s and are 'showing their age' according to Guernsey Port's head of operations.
Jerome Davis says they need to be replaced and to do so, the East Arm of the North Beach needs to be cleared.
For around 12 weeks, the area will be used to store the new pontoons, provide working space and also store around 20 motor cruisers. These couldn't be moored in other parts of St Peter Port harbour, unlike the majority of the 130 vessels that currently have a berth on the 'D & E pontoons' (see image above).
Mr Davis says they have a plan to minimise disruption to drivers:
“We have been working with Traffic and Highway Services who are reallocating 114 spaces (on the North Beach) from 3 to 10-hour spaces to alleviate some pressure on commuters.
I appreciate the inconvenience that this is going to cause many people and we are not taking the closure lightly, but we need the operational space. We will look for any opportunities to return space that is no longer required as the project progresses."
Work in the marina will involve removing the old D and E pontoons, strengthening the foundations they sit on and replacing them with new, 500 metre galvanized steel pontoons.
The project will cost around £1.4M. Mr Davis says it's a much-needed investment in the island’s leisure marina facilities.
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