Victoria Avenue (classified as the A2) is a major road in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

, connecting the capital

St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...

to Bel Royal in

St Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman emperor Valerian ordered in 258. ...

, also providing access to the western part of the A1 for non-bus traffic, due to a bus gate that prevents traffic from the A1 continuing on the A1. The road has been referred to as "the Island's most important route and event venue", due to the fact that 30,000 vehicles travel along the road each day, and it provides a vital route between the two largest conurbations on the island. The road also plays host to the island's largest annual festival, the Battle of Flowers. It is the longest stretch of dual carriageway in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. The road has three signalised junctions, one at the eastern end of the road at West Park, one at First Tower and one at Millbrook. Running along the southern side of the road is a series of

car parks A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

(known as "lay-bys"), a

cycle track A cycle track or cycleway (''British'') or bikeway (''mainly North American''), sometimes historically referred to as a sidepath, is a separate route for cycles and not motor vehicles. In some cases cycle tracks are also used by other users such ...

and the St Aubin's Bay promenade. The road has lovely views of the bay, and there are cafés and public toilets on the sea front.

History

The road was constructed between 1895 and the

Diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...

, after whom the road is named, in 1897. The road had initially been named for the former Connétable of St Helier Mr. Baudins as Boulevard Baudins. The road was originally a single carriageway, extending only as far as First Tower, however over time the road was extended and converted into a dual carriageway in the late 1950s. Aerial photographs from 1965 show that the two ends of the avenue were roundabouts at that time. These were subsequently removed. Between 2009 and 2010, upgrades to the road were part of a

fiscal stimulus In economics, stimulus refers to attempts to use monetary policy or fiscal policy (or stabilization policy in general) to stimulate the economy. Stimulus can also refer to monetary policies such as lowering interest rates and quantitative eas ...

plan in response to the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. It involved the replaced of the aged drainage system, improvement of pedestrian facilities, the replacement of

street lighting A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, streetlamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution b ...

columns to improve energy efficiency and the lengthening of right-turn lanes to reduce congestion. In May 2020, the Government of Jersey announced that some parking in the lay-bys could be removed to promote

sustainable transport Sustainable transport is transportation sustainability, sustainable in terms of their social and Environmental issue, environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used; the source of energy; and ...

in response to a rise in usage of the promenade and cycle track, and a reduction in usage of the road during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

A2 (Jersey) at ''Roader's Digest'' (SABRE)
Roads in Jersey {{Jersey-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links