Three Bridges Railway Station project may go ahead without right turn out

If West Sussex County Council can’t reach a decision on the need for a right turn out of Three Bridges station by July 1, the planned improvement work will go ahead without it.

Three Bridges is the busiest of the three railway stations in Crawley but the layout of the front – including the taxi rank, car park and bus stop – has been described as a ‘dog’s dinner’ and a ‘recipe for disaster’.

The council was asked to take another look at plans for the £3.1m revamp of the forecourt in the light of public concerns that the current right turn on to Haslett Avenue East was to be dropped.

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A report to a meeting of Crawley Borough Council’s overview & scrutiny commission on Monday (March 9) laid out details of the July 1 deadline.

While opinion was divided on the need for a right turn, members were unanimous in their support for the scheme as a whole.

Richard Burrett (Con, Pound Hill North & Forge Wood) said: “I do support the scheme in terms of what it’s going to do for the station.

“The improvements that will be made there are going to be a real step change for Three Bridges.”

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Praising the work carried out by officers in putting the scheme together, he said of the right turn: “It would be a shame if it was spoiled by one aspect. Hopefully we can get that right and try to find a compromise that suits everybody.”

While the borough has taken the lead in running the project, only the county council can sign off on highways matters.

If no right turn can be included in the scheme, anyone leaving the station would face a 1.5-mile round trip to the Paymaster General roundabout and back if they wanted to get to Maidenbower, Pound Hill and the like.

Despite more than 1,000 people signing a petition calling for a fourth consultation into the plans, only a ‘very small percentage’ of the 8,000 people who use the station every day turn right when leaving.

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As such, there has been a feeling of inevitability about the proposed layout.

Bob Burgess (Con, Three Bridges) said: “It does seem to me that this no right turn is an insurmountable issue and someone is going to have to lose out on it, which is sad.

“But I do think that the project will make an enormous difference to Crawley as a town in general and to Three Bridges in particular.”