Local Councillor calls on East Sussex County Council to urgently review traffic issues in Newhaven

Another weekend of traffic chaos in Newhaven has led to a councillor calling for urgent action on local traffic issues.

Cllr Lesley Boniface, Town Councillor for the Newhaven Valley Ward, has received a number of complaints following traffic issues which have been ongoing for a while in the town and came to a head on Saturday 5th April when SGN set up traffic lights to work on the gas network on the junction of Rose Walk and the A259. Residents have also taken to Social Media to complain about the lack of infrastructure and planning between authorities.

“Residents have had to put up with traffic congestion in the town for far too long now. Saturday’s chaos was a perfect storm with road works on the A27, rail works which had rail replacement buses running and the SGN works."

Newhaven MP James MacCleary has been raising the alarm about traffic congestion and safety in Newhaven for months. Over Christmas, James publicly declared a traffic emergency in the town and he has also written to the Transport Secretary to press for the government to release promised funding for improvements identified in the recent Major Road Network study on the A259.

“The Conservatives have been failing Newhaven for decades and traffic is the latest example - they deny there is a problem. James and I, along with the Liberal Democrat teams think our town deserves better and want a package of improvements.”

1. Start to address the McDonalds roundabout with new lane markings to prevent congestion and confusion.

2. Remove traffic lights on the ring road where there is an underpass to aid traffic flow.

3. Fix the merge before the swing bridge heading west which causes daily tailbacks across the flyover.

4. Deal with the lack of painted white lines in the vicinity of Railway Road to reduce accidents on non-existent roundabouts.

5. Re-think the merge lanes from North Way to South Way. 

Cllr Bioniface said, "I’ll be seeking to commission a full movement study for the town to fully understand traffic flows, and walking and cycling patterns in the town to create a bespoke set of recommendations”

James MacCleary MP saids: “I, along with other local residents, am fed up with sitting in traffic. Newhaven has been served poorly by its traffic and road design. It just isn’t good enough to hear the County Council repeatedly saying there’s nothing they can do or that there isn’t a problem. Perhaps if more of them had to drive through Newhaven like the rest of us, then they would appreciate the problem.

“I raised the issue over Christmas and have written to the government to get them to release funding for promised improvements.

“There is no doubt it has got a lot worse with traffic jams at all times of the day on the flyover often backing up past Denton Corner. It isn’t just affecting residents, it is also affecting businesses in Newhaven and along the coast.

“The most recent traffic issues falling on a weekend with rail replacement buses, especially grates when local services aren’t co-ordinating. I’ll be writing to the relevant authorities asking them to do better with planned events and to fix the traffic issues long term”.