Calls for A259 improvements between Seaford and Newhaven

The motion, submitted by Liberal Democrats Carolyn Lambert and James MacCleary, calls on East Sussex County Council to seek funding to build a footbridge over the road, as part of efforts to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

It also calls on the council to install temporary traffic lights at the Bishopstone junction in order to test whether it would improve the flow of vehicles.

While these calls are not set for debate until next month at least, it is the council’s usual practice for its motions to first be considered by the cabinet member whose portfolio covers the topic of debate, who then makes a recommendation on how the full council should vote.

In this case it was Cllr Claire Dowling, lead member for transport and environment, who, following a meeting held on Monday (June 5), recommended that the full council reject the motion.

This recommendation is not in opposition to the idea of a new crossing in the area, but is based on officer advice that a footbridge would not be the right fit.

Officers had said a footbridge would be a poor choice for a wide range of reasons, including the A259’s status as a route for ‘abnormal’ cargo meaning any bridge would have to be unusually large.

They also said a footbridge would be more expensive than the sorts of traffic light-controlled crossings already being looked at as part of the long-awaited A259 Major Road Network (MRN) study.

Prompted by questions from Cllr Lambert and MacCleary, officers said the council expected to begin stakeholder discussions on the specifics of these potential crossings this summer, although they acknowledged that actual construction work would still be some years away.

Officers had also advised Cllr Dowling against supporting the second part of the Liberal Democrat councillors’ motion, saying that the idea of traffic lights had been looked at in the past and judged likely to cause “extensive queuing and potentially unacceptable delays on the A259.”

Cllr Dowling also heard how the money suggested to fund the trial traffic lights — a £750,000 underspend in the council’s Active Travel Fund — had already been assigned to the school streets project.