‘Big traffic hold ups’ due to bus stop issues in Eastbourne

Mike Deveney said he sees ‘big traffic hold ups’ due to buses stopping in the middle of the road outside the Sovereign Centre in Royal Parade and outside the Alexandra Arms in Seaside.

These two ‘build out’ bus stops don’t have room for the buses to pull up out of the way so traffic has to wait behind them which results in congestion.

He said he was told by one of the bus drivers that if they’re running early, they have to go to the ‘build out’ stop and wait in the middle of the road – holding up traffic.

Mike argued there are bus stops before/after these two stops that have laybys that the buses could use to stay out of the way. Mike suggested a solution to this would be using these nearby layby stops instead so the time spent at the ‘build out’ bus stops is kept to a minimum if buses are running early.

He said, “The council want to be green but this is causing big traffic hold ups and pollution from cars sitting there.”

An East Sussex County Council spokesperson said, “The long standing ‘build out’ bus stops on Seaside were funded by the government as part of a highways scheme in the early 2000s. They were introduced to alleviate the problem of buses being unable to re-join the traffic flow after stopping at the kerbside, thereby affecting journey times and reliability. The westbound bus stop on Royal Parade near the Sovereign Centre is on road and when the bus stops, vehicles behind have to wait a short time to allow passengers to board or exit the bus.

“Encouraging bus use is important to helping us meet our targets to cut carbon emissions in the county. We are continuing to work with the bus companies to improve the reliability of services to make them an attractive alternative to travelling in Eastbourne. ”

A spokesman for Stagecoach said, “This is a registered bus stop and as such buses will stop there, as they have done for many years. One of the biggest drags on our local economy is the unsustainable use of cars and worsening traffic congestion. Buses provide a big part of the solution.

“Seaside is a particular traffic pinch point and we look to the politicians to make the decisions necessary to implement bus priority measures that allow buses to flourish, building a transport system that serves and revitalises our community and town centre.”