The meeting was called following a spate of serious accidents on the A259, at the end of last year, including a fatality. The MP wanted to establish the cause of the accidents and discuss whether more could be done to improve road safety along the route. As well as the tragic consequences for those involved in the accidents, an emergency road closure of the A259 results in hours of gridlock on adjacent local roads including Sluice Lane and lanes in Hooe village.
Sussex Police and National Highways (who manage the A259) explained that following the fatality near the Custom Café, they carried out analysis of recent crash data to establish whether road layout, speeding or other factors relating to the road played a part in the accidents. (The Police only have access to crash data relating to fatal or injurious accidents, data on other incidents which the emergency services don’t attend are dealt with by insurance companies and is not available to them.) A vehicle speed analysis concluded that speeding was not an issue at this section of road as average speeds were 46mph and the highest 15% of speeds were 53mph.
Sussex Police and National Highways explained that twenty thousand vehicles use the road each day and, over the last 10 years, there have been 29 collisions on the stretch of the A259 between Little Common and Pevensey roundabout which resulted in serious injury or death. Speeding was identified as the cause of one of those accidents. Other causes were medical incidents, drink/drug driving and driver error. Therefore, from a policing point of view, road safety on the A259 is not considered a major concern.
Four of the recent accidents happened at the junctions to Hooe village which is used as an alternative route to Battle. East Sussex County Council who maintain the adjacent roads also carried out analysis of the cause of those accidents in conjunction with National Highways and the police. This concluded that driver error was the cause of those accidents.
Councillors and community representatives from Hooe village, shared the lived experience of local residents who continually raise their concerns to them about the safety of the A259. They also discussed the challenges on the remaining road network when the A259 is closed. The villagers in Hooe often find themselves trapped in as does the community at Normans Bay and Cooden when their roads are used as unofficial diversion routes. HGVs diverting along these villages routes cause extensive damage to local roads.
Given community concerns and the increasing volume of traffic using the A259 through Little Common, Kieran asked National Highways and East Sussex County Council to consider whether junction improvements or engineering solutions could help the driver experience and improve road safety. National Highways confirmed that they are about to commence a whole route study of the A259 and A27 in East Sussex to obtain more data on road safety and driver behaviour. A similar study had been carried out on the A21 between Lamberhurst and Hastings and has resulted in speed limit changes, road engineering improvements and other measures which are already showing improvements in road safety. Depending on the results from the A259 study, funding for road safety improvements would be sought from the Department of Transport.
Kieran asked that he and councillors are kept informed of the progress of this study and confirmed he would be supportive of any funding bids to improve road safety.
Following the meeting Kieran said: “It was very helpful to talk to Sussex Police, National Highways and East Sussex County Council about the growing local concerns for safety on the A259. I am encouraged that a whole route study of the A259 and A27 is being carried out this financial year. This is a key transport route for the constituency and is vital to the local economy. With more expected housing growth, I am concerned about its resilience and safety. East Sussex is poorly served by decent transport infrastructure. Ultimately, if this area is expected to take more housing, we must also have a stronger and safer transport infrastructure to support it.”