Roadworks on busy Eastbourne town centre road delayed until Autumn

Roadworks which were due to finish this week on a busy town centre road have been delayed – until September.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Jun 2019, 16:25 BST
Cornfield Road, Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)Cornfield Road, Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)
Cornfield Road, Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)

Eight months of works transforming Cornfield Road were scheduled to wind down this month, but the county council says “unforeseen structural repairs” have caused a hold up.

Eastbourne town centre road to close for a month

The busy road has been choked by the works – only being open to one-way traffic – which started on October 22, 2018.

Cornfield Road was due to be closed for eight months, but its closure has been delayed until September (Photo by Jon Rigby)Cornfield Road was due to be closed for eight months, but its closure has been delayed until September (Photo by Jon Rigby)
Cornfield Road was due to be closed for eight months, but its closure has been delayed until September (Photo by Jon Rigby)
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A spokesperson for East Sussex County Council said to the Herald today (June 26), “With a scheme of this size, which has run alongside the major redevelopment of the Beacon Centre, disruption and delays are inevitable but we are doing everything we can to minimise this.

“By working on a number sites across the town centre, we have significantly reduced the amount of time the scheme will take to complete.

“As part of the scheme, major work has been carried out in Cornfield Road, including unforeseen structural repairs. These repairs have caused a delay in the reopening of the road and we apologise for the disruption and inconvenience this has caused. We expect the scheme to be complete by September this year.”

Six weeks of roadworks to close Eastbourne road

The spokesperson said The Eastbourne Town Centre Improvement Scheme aims to transform and modernise the area, attract more visitors to the town, improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists and reduce congestion.

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Both ESCC and Eastbourne Borough Council have invested more than £8m into the scheme.

In Cornfield Road the plan includes:

• Relaying the footways with high quality paving materials and the carriageway in granite setts.

• Installing new seating and planting trees in special “tree pits”

• Closing the entrance to Hyde Gardens from Cornfield Road installing a seating area

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• Installing a small taxi rank on the western side of Cornfield Road and additional disabled bays in Hyde Gardens North

• Putting new bus stops in place on the other side of Cornfield Road for eastbound buses, with four new “state-of-the-art” bus shelters being installed

Related topics:East Sussex County Council