Calls for footbridge on A259 at Bishopstone between Seaford and Newhaven

On Tuesday (July 18), East Sussex County Council debated a motion submitted by Liberal Democrat councillors Carolyn Lambert and James MacCleary, which called on the authority to invest in improving the busy major road.

The motion specifically called both for a new footbridge over the road and the installation of temporary traffic lights at its Bishopstone junction, as a way to test whether this would be an effective way of managing traffic there.

Cllr Lambert argued something needed to be done to improve the situation urgently as residents were deeply concerned. She said: “Seaford has essentially one route through the town and that is the A259. The only other way into the town is through Alfriston and I know the ward member will be well aware of the difficulties of getting through Alfriston, so it is not an easy situation.

“It is compounded by the fact of these very dangerous junctions where, over the last few years, unfortunately we have seen several very serious accidents.

“It takes very little to clog up the A259 and to gridlock traffic, right back to Newhaven and Peacehaven. So there is some need for some urgent action to be taken and residents have made their views clear.”

As is the council’s usual practice, motions are first considered by the cabinet member whose portfolio covers the topic of debate. In this case it was Cllr Claire Dowling, cabinet member for transport and environment, who considered the motion at a meeting last month.

At that meeting, Cllr Dowling heard how officers had concerns about both measures being sought through the motion (the footbridge and temporary traffic lights). The footbridge, officers said, would be neither ‘affordable or practicable’, while the temporary traffic lights were thought likely to cause ‘extensive queuing and potentially unacceptable delays’.

In light of this advice, Cllr Dowling had recommended refusal of the motion. Cllr Dowling said: “The reason that the recommendation is rejection is the fact that two separate modelling studies have already been undertaken [which] show that if you were to do what you had first requested … would cause a horrendous backlog on the A259.”

This recommendation ultimately saw the motion voted down after a brief debate.

The report considered by Cllr Dowling last month also noted how ‘signalised surface crossing options’ were being considered as part of the long-awaited A259 Major Road Network study. This, officers said, would be a more suitable alternative to a footbridge.

This had been welcomed by Cllr MacCleary, who said: “First of all I would like to thank Cllr Dowling and officers for the meeting we had, which I felt was constructive; I felt we were heard and I think the report produced by officers is comprehensive and very constructive on this issue.

“Many of you who live in our area will know about this issue, many of you will have used the A259 running through that stretch and it is a pretty self-evident problem. It is not one as local member I am uniquely aware of.”

Concerns about the road were also shared by Peacehaven West councillor Chris Collier (Lab), who said: “This is without a doubt one of the worst bits of road in Lewes district.”