Major improvements to A22 between Eastbourne and Hailsham move to detailed design stage

On Monday (March 14), Claire Dowling, lead member for transport and environment, agreed the next step for a series of improvement projects at five junctions along the A22 corridor between Hailsham and Stone Cross.

Cllr Dowling agreed for the proposals to move ahead to a ‘detailed design’ phase and approved plans to a bid for £29.2m of government funding to carry out the works.

The proposals include plans to create a new roundabout at the Hempstead Lane junction and to replace the A22 Golden Jubilee Way/Dittons Road roundabout with a traffic-light controlled crossroads.

Works are also proposed at both the Boship, Eagles and A27/A22 Golden Jubilee Way roundabouts. All three roundabouts would be expanded with additional lanes.

The Boship Roundabout would also become traffic light-controlled, while a dedicated left turn sliproad from the A295 to the A22 would be added to the Eagles Roundabout. Both these roundabouts would also have toucan crossings for pedestrians and cyclists. 

In all, the works are expected to cost somewhere in the region of £34.4m. The council hopes to secure around £29.2m of this from the government, with a further £5.2m expected to come from development contributions and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) monies secured by Wealden District Council.

All five proposals went out for public consultation last year. According to meeting papers at least 45 to 50 per cent of respondents were in favour of each of the proposed improvements, with Eagles roundabout receiving the highest amount of support (with 67 per cent of respondents in agreement). 

However, the consultation also saw some concerns raised about the potential for increased congestion as a result of adding traffic lights to a number of the junctions, as well as the disruption from the road works themselves.

Despite these concerns, council officers had said the alternatives would create more significant congestion and highway pressure.

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