31.1 The Lead Member considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.
DECISIONS
31.2 The Lead Member RESOLVED to recommend that Full Council does not support the motion set out at paragraph 1.1 of the report for the reasons set out in section 3 of the report.
Reasons
31.3 Firstly, the Notice of Motion requests that the Cabinet undertake a multi-modal study which considers the needs of all road users, particularly at the junctions with the A259, and identifies proposals to address these. Two studies are already underway or planned to consider these issues. The Transport for the South East’s Outer Orbital Corridor Study which is currently underway will consider strategic and regionally significant interventions on the A259 corridor. The County Council led A259 South Coast Road corridor study planned to start this year will identify, using appropriate evidence, more localised interventions for pedestrians, cyclists, public transport users as well congestion and safety measures along the corridor. Both these studies will then inform the development of a business case to secure Major Road Network funding from Government to deliver the preferred package of interventions. As this request is already being actioned, it is recommended that this element of the Notice of Motion is not supported.
31.4 Secondly, the Notice of Motion requests that lower speed limits on the approaches to Seaford are imposed and enforced. The setting and changes to speed limits are undertaken in accordance with the Local Policy PS05/02. A 50mph speed limit was introduced on the A259 western approach into Seaford in 2017 and post-implementation surveys identified that the limit was largely self-enforcing. Previous requests have been made to reduce this speed limit further to 40mph however for this to be effective would require a significant level of engineering work to ensure that vehicle speeds are brought down, did not meet the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership criteria for speed cameras and therefore could not be justified. We will continue to work with the Police to ensure the enforcement of speed limits, however their setting needs to be appropriate to the local environment as set out in our Speed Limit Policy. Therefore, this element of the Notice of Motion is not supported.
31.5 Finally, the Notice of Motion also requests that pedestrian crossings are provided at key points of the A259 including at the Bishopstone junctions. To ensure a holistic approach is taken, the provision of pedestrian crossing improvements at the Bishopstone junction and other locations on the A259 will be considered as part of the wider A259 South Coast Road corridor study. However, the delivery of an interventions identified through the study, including pedestrian crossing improvements at junctions on the A259, will be subject to securing MRN or other external funding or standalone schemes being prioritised for county council funding and inclusion in the County Council’s capital programme of local transport improvements. With no funding currently attached to the provision of such improvements, it is recommended that this part of the Notice of Motion is not supported.