ePetition - A259 South Coast Road Congestion
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ePetition details
A259 South Coast Road Congestion
We the undersigned are experiencing and have been experiencing for some years, unacceptable levels of delays and queueing on the A259 South Coast Road between Newhaven, Peacehaven, Rottingdean, Ovingdean and Brighton Marina.
We understand that this problem is caused by ever increasing levels of traffic which exceed the capacity of the local road infrastructure. This degree of congestion has adverse safety, economic and health implications that need to be identified and quantified.
The related local development plans indicate that further developments are planned which will impact on this local infrastructure and exacerbate the current unacceptable situation.
This section of the A259 was included with erroneous base data in the Lewes District Council Core Strategy Local Plan in 2016. Based on a Newhaven travel study in 2010 and subsequent transport modelling. This has not included any provision for the Cumulative Impact of housing developments in neighbouring Brighton and Hove Fringe areas (identified in their Local plan), or increased housing/school placement numbers from Newhaven to Brighton Marina undertaken since 2012.
To enable the petition to be implemented:
We call upon East Sussex County Council, Lewes District Council and Brighton & Hove City Council (keeping the Highway Authority informed) to carry out new and joint traffic evaluation studies on the A259 South Coast Road between Newhaven, Peacehaven, Rottingdean, Ovingdean and Brighton Marina.
We also call upon East Sussex County Council, B&HCC and LDC to carry out an economic impact study of the detrimental effects caused by traffic congestion on the A259 between Newhaven, Peacehaven, Rottingdean, Ovingdean and Brighton Marina, (particularly at the now spreading peak times) on the local economy for this area as well as the impact on the AQMA’s in Newhaven and Rottingdean and the quality of life for residents in this whole area.
Once the results of these studies have been reviewed by officers
and the public, we call upon East Sussex County Council, Lewes
District Council and Brighton &Hove City Council (keeping the
Highway Authority informed) to clearly identify what new physical
road infrastructure improvements will be required to meet any
identified capacity shortfall, along with a schedule of works for
when those improvements will need to be implemented prior to
further development taking place.
There are certain aspects of historical studies which are of
concern and require inclusion, clarification and measurements in
current studies to address our concern. New studies should include
but not be limited to:
• Clearly documented capacity calculations for the A259
between Newhaven and Brighton Marina (both on links and junctions)
and at key pinch points. These should be in accordance with the
Design Manual for Roads and Bridges and at the least, take account
of road widths, bus lanes and stops, entry and egress limitations,
gradients, bends on roads, visibility and other traffic limitation/
impact circumstances.
• Traffic volumes, traffic types and the degree and timing of
any over-capacity usage.
• Identification and quantification of “rat run”
traffic volumes and capacity and the impact on the local
communities.
• Traffic initiation, destination, purpose and average speeds
(current and projected within local development plans).
This ePetition ran from 21/03/2017 to 05/04/2017 and has now finished.
1272 people signed this ePetition.
Council response
Response provided by the Chair of the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee at their meeting on 27 June 2017:
"Thank you for your petition to this committee on behalf of SAFE and the people who have signed it. As you know, we received the petition and debated it at our Full Council meeting in April, and the summary of that debate can be found in today’s agenda.
In that debate, I did refer to the transport and planning studies that have already been done, and the ongoing, local monitoring and reporting of air quality within the area that you are concerned about.
To summarise for the members of the public attending today’s meeting:-
• those studies have not concluded that significant, new
transport infrastructure is required to address future, planned
growth; and
• the monitoring is showing improvements in air quality in
Rottingdean High Street and we have also approved funding for a
local scheme to manage traffic flows there, through dialogue with
the Parish Council and local councillors.
I also outlined the significant success of the existing priority lanes on the A259 in terms of increased bus passenger numbers and service frequencies that are in use, and would add that they also benefit other public transport users such as taxi and coach passengers.
In my view, therefore, there appears to be sufficient ongoing research and results involving all these councils to indicate what each council needs to know to be able to plan in a strategic and cross-border manner, co-operating at both a Strategic Planning level and with respect to Transport Planning and this information is regularly added to. This information is used when considering any changes or improvements to the sub-regional transport infrastructure such as the A259. This council's Strategic Transport Assessment was produced to support our City Plan Part 1 and the technical modelling used was validated using nationally recognised and recommended techniques.
The data collected and put through the modelling process for the STA also included traffic growth factors to 2030 and allowed for local growth, again using nationally recognised estimating methods.
An examination in public was held on the City Plan and its supporting documentation. The Planning Inspector concluded that it was sound.
When preparing their own Local Plans, our neighbouring council's would have undertaken a similar process, so this information has been gathered
I am aware that your petition has been received by our neighbouring councils to the east and that the progress of the petition is that,
• The District Council will discuss it either at a full
council meeting or an appropriate committee and
• The County Council may be preparing a response for its next
Lead Member Meeting in the Autumn.
Therefore, at this stage, we are not yet aware of the views or discussions that our neighbouring councils may have. However, I am sure that your petition will have raised a greater awareness of these issues and I know that, for example, the main local bus company is looking at the possibility of increased services connecting with the A259 that will help to relieve the pressure in that area".