Progress made to improve Bishopstone Junction

MP Maria Caulfield has been working with East Sussex County Council on plans to improve the junction which will help residents on both sides of the A259 and as part of the Governments’ Major Route Network scheme (MRN) the A259 has been accepted on to this scheme. This means that a bid for funding for the Bishopstone Junction improvements can be submitted.

Over the last 18 months East Sussex County Council have been working up plans to improve traffic flow along the whole stretch of the A259 from Brighton to Eastbourne as part of this MRN bid and Caulfield has been lobbying to include the Bishopstone Junction improvements as part of this scheme. Residents have been sharing with Maria their thoughts on what improvements would make a difference from roundabouts to pedestrian junctions and many have fed in their suggestions and comments.

East Sussex County Council have decided to include a pedestrian crossing for the Bishopstone Junction as part of their bid to Government for funding for the A259.

On hearing this news Caulfield said: "A pedestrian crossing will not just enable people to cross the road safely but it will slow down the traffic and give traffic breaks too for those trying to enter or exit the various junction points as well."

The County Council will be submitting their bid in a few weeks time to Government and the job will then be to lobby the Government for the funding so this can be secured for this project. The time lines for this work are still lengthy as it is likely that while the outline business case is going in now it will be the end of next year before the full business case is likely to be signed off and constructors will then need to be appointed. So this is going to take time to bring forward.

However getting the pedestrian crossing agreed to be part of the bid to Government is a major step forward and one that residents in Bishopstone have been calling for, for some time

However, Liberal Democrat councillors have warned about "another false dawn" for residents as the plans are currently unfunded.

Councillor Carolyn Lambert, who represents Seaford South, said: “Consideration of this proposal has been because of two Notices of Motion that we have put forward to East Sussex County Council as well as questions to the Lead Member.

"We still have a long way to go and have to be aware that the proposal is still very limited and falls well short of the footbridge or roundabouts options that we fed into the study.”

Cllr James MacCleary, who represents Bishopstone, said: "We will continue to put pressure on East Sussex County Council to provide a safe crossing now, not in the distant future when more lives will be put at risk.”