Cllr Carolyn Lambert pushes for traffic lights on Bishopstone Junction

NOTICE OF MOTION: BISHOPSTONE JUNCTION, SEAFORD
 

On 15 February 2021, Cllr Darren Grover and Cllr Carolyn Lambert submitted a Notice of Motion (NOM) to the Lead Member for Transport and Environment. The NOM called attention to two accidents in two days that closed the A259 in Seaford, the biggest town in Lewes District.

The NOM requested the Cabinet to undertake a proper survey of the whole town, not just the Buckle by-pass, with particular focus on all the junctions with the A259, to identify the areas of greatest risk to both car users, cyclists and pedestrians, and to come up with some concrete proposals to enhance road safety. The NOM recognised that the County Council was already undertaking a review of the A259 from Seaford to Brighton in terms of congestion and argued that the safety of both car users, pedestrians and cyclists should form part of that study. The Cabinet was asked to:

 impose lower speed limits on the approaches to Seaford and to work with partners to ensure these are enforced;

 provide safe pedestrian crossings at key points of the A259 including at the Bishopstone junctions.

These requests were refused on the grounds that:

• a study was already being carried out;

• reducing the speed limit would require a significant level of engineering work;

• the request for a pedestrian crossing at Bishopstone needed to be considered holistically as part of the study and in any event, funding was not available.

At the County Council meeting of 7 February 2023, Cllr Carolyn Lambert submitted a further written question to the Lead Member, pointing out that the situation with the A259 was now critical and that Seaford, in particular, was suffering. The A259 continues to be regularly gridlocked and there have been further serious accidents. The outcome of the study has been delayed and any practical proposals are still awaited leaving residents still regularly facing dangers and delays on this difficult road.

Given the further delay to the study, and the length of time residents have been waiting for improvements, this NOM calls on Cabinet to:

• Provide temporary traffic lights at the Bishopstone junction to assess the effectiveness of this as a traffic management solution. The County Council is reminded that, despite initial resistance from the local authority, temporary traffic lights have worked well at Exceat and have been well received by residents;

• Seek to provide a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists over the A259 at Bishopstone by bidding for funding for a footbridge using the £750k still in the County Council’s Active Travel Fund.