A259 road

Last updated

UK road A259.svg
A259
A259 road map.png
A259, Eastbourne Road - geograph.org.uk - 1383731.jpg
A259 Eastbourne Road
Route information
Length118.5 mi (190.7 km)
Major junctions
East end Folkestone
Major intersectionsUK-Motorway-M20.svg M20
UK road A20.svg A20
UK road A260.svg A260
UK road A2033.svg A2033
UK road A2034.svg A2034
UK road A2070.svg A2070
UK road A268.svg A268
UK road A2101.svg A2101
UK road A21.svg A21
UK road A2102.svg A2102
UK road A2036.svg A2036
UK road A269.svg A269
UK road A2690.svg A2690
UK road A27.svg A27
UK road A2290.svg A2290
UK road A2021.svg A2021
UK road A2040.svg A2040
UK road A2270.svg A2270
UK road A26.svg A26
UK road A29.svg A29
UK road A23.svg A23
UK road A2010.svg A2010
UK road A2023.svg A2023
UK road A283.svg A283
UK road A24.svg A24
UK road A2032.svg A2032
UK road A280.svg A280
UK road A284.svg A284
UK road A286.svg A286
West end Emsworth
Location
Country United Kingdom
Primary
destinations 		Bexhill-on-Sea
Bognor Regis
Brighton
Chichester
Eastbourne
Folkestone
Hastings
Littlehampton
Rye
Shoreham-by-Sea
Worthing
Road network

The A259 is a road on the south coast of England passing through Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent, and is the longest Zone 2 A road in Great Britain. The main part of the road connects Brighton, Peacehaven, Eastbourne, Hastings, Rye, and Folkestone.

Contents

The road is below the expected standard of a trunk road used by HGVs and a frequent cause of congestion and disruption and has been documented as one of the most dangerous roads in South England.

Description

A hairpin bend on the trunk road section of the A259 near Winchelsea Hairpin Bend, A259 - geograph.org.uk - 360710.jpg
A hairpin bend on the trunk road section of the A259 near Winchelsea

The A259 is a busy two-lane road running along the south coast of England; part is roughly parallel to the A27 road. The A259 runs east from Emsworth in Hampshire, into West Sussex via Chichester, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Ferring, Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea, into the Unitary Authority of Brighton and Hove which incorporates Portslade, Hove and Brighton, and on into the East Sussex towns of Peacehaven, Newhaven, Seaford, Eastbourne, Pevensey, Bexhill-on-Sea, Hastings and Rye. Over the border in Kent, it continues through New Romney and Hythe to terminate at Folkestone.

The road passes through Winchelsea, England's first new town. The road has two sections with Trunk Road status (between Bognor Regis and Chichester, and between Pevensey and the A2070 at Brenzett) and formed part of the formerly designated South Coast Trunk Road. [1] This section of A259 is almost entirely a single-carriageway, with only a short stretch of urban dual-carriageway in Bexhill.

Landmarks on the A259 include The Body Shop headquarters outside of Littlehampton, Shoreham Power Station, West Pier, and the Palace Pier in Brighton, Telscombe Cliffs near Peacehaven, and Saltdean, Cuckmere Haven between Seaford and Eastbourne and the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway which shares the route for 8 miles (13 km) from New Romney to Hythe.

Safety

In June 2008, a 12 miles (19 km) stretch of the A259 between Hastings and Eastbourne was named by EuroRAP as the most dangerous road in the South East of England. [2] [3] The report cited 47 fatal or serious collisions from 2004 to 2006 as a key issue. [4] In 2011, the BBC named the road as the "most crash prone A road" in the UK with 7,721 crashes and 120 deaths over 12 years from 1999 to 2010, an average of 65 crashes per mile. [5]

Traffic

The road crosses the Marshlink line between Ashford International and Rye at two level crossings in quick succession. In the summer, this can create significant congestion where goods vehicles between the towns mix with day traffic to popular holiday destinations such as Camber Sands. Portions of the road along Romney Marsh suffer from subsidence into the dikes that run alongside the main carriageway. [6]

History

What is now the A259 east of Rye was developed after the opening of the Monk Bretton Bridge in 1893, which provided a quicker route through Romney Marsh. [7] The original draft route of the A259 was from Dover to Eastbourne. It was extended westwards to Worthing after the local engineering division informed the Ministry of Transport they would like a single number to represent the coast road. [8]

In 1989 the government proposed to dual the road from Pevensey to Bexhill and make other corridor improvements as detailed in their Roads for Prosperity white paper and would have included the following elements: 'Guestling and Icklesham bypass', the 'Winchelsea bypass', 'Rye bypass', 'Hamstreet bypass', 'A259 New Romney bypass' and the 'A259 St. Mary's Bay and Dymchurch bypass'. [9] This scheme along with many others proposed at the time were shelved in 1996-7 after a number of major road protests in the UK. Of these only the Ham Street bypass (A2070) was eventually constructed. [6]

Plans for a 'Hastings Bexhill bypass' which would have provided a dual-carriageway from the Pevensey roundabout passing to the north of Bexhill and Hastings to join the current A259 near Icklesham at a cost of £120-£130 million were rejected in 2001. The scheme, which was supported by the South East England Regional Assembly and by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott was opposed by English Nature who highlighted the damage to a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), including the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They were also concerned about the negative effect the scheme would have on several ancient woodlands and the habitats of the dormouse and great crested newt. [10] [11]

Following the upgrade of the A2070 road in the late 1990s, the section between Brenzett and Folkestone was de-trunked in 2003 (i.e. removed trunk road status) and control reverted to Kent County Council. [12]

Other development proposals for the road were considered in 2004. [13]

In 2021, Eccy de Jonge, a British author, published an account of policing practices in Great Britain and elsewhere. In a chapter on road deaths, the author reveals two pedestrian deaths on the A259 that occurred in 2013, one near Seaford, East Sussex, the other in Hastings. [14]

Proposed developments

Proposed route of the Bexhill Hastings Link Road Bexhill Hastings.png
Proposed route of the Bexhill Hastings Link Road

In 2008, East Sussex County Council proposed building a new link road between Bexhill and Hastings, to form a 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long road from its junction with the A259 in Bexhill, to a junction with the B2092 Queensway in Hastings. [15]

The South East Regional Assembly included the scheme within its Regional Funding Advice package. [16] This was provisionally signed off in July 2009 by the Department for Transport, with the caveat that individual schemes would still need to be assessed for value for money and compatibility with greenhouse gas emission targets. [17] Although originally estimated at £45 million, the scheme was now expected to cost over £100 million. £33 million was expected to come from developer contributions, but the County Council was unable to obtain them. "Although opportunities will be explored to seek developer contributions in the future, at the present it has been considered prudent to plan to fund all future local contributions from the County Council's capital programme". [18]

The county council said: "The driving force of the scheme is to enable essential economic regeneration for Bexhill and Hastings, which is currently compromised by the poor accessibility within and between the two towns... the Bexhill Hastings Link Road would make a major contribution to meeting the need to improve access between the towns and linking Trunk Roads which serve the area". They also identified that the scheme would provide "faster and more reliable access to the Conquest Hospital", "easier access to jobs", "create access to much-needed additional housing"; and that it would "re-route traffic from less suitable roads" and "reduce the number of accidents on local roads". [19]

A number of organisations objected to the scheme. The Hastings Alliance, [20] which is supported by 11 national bodies, including the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, the Council for National Parks, and WWF-UK, and also 16 local groups [21] pointed to the Hastings Five Point Plan, commissioned by the South East Regional Assembly, which found that the key requirement for regeneration is to "improve the strategic accessibility of Hastings – that is Hastings' access to London, other major towns, and other parts of the South East" and says that improving rail links are fundamental to regenerating that area. [22] In addition they objected to the impact on the Combe Haven valley, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which would be cut in two by the scheme. The Campaign for Better Transport say that, contrary to government guidance, the county council had "never really considered whether building a link road is the best way to improve transport on the Sussex coast". [23] The Woodland Trust also objected, as the road would seriously impact on the Marline Valley Woods Site of Special Scientific Interest, an ancient ghyll woodland. This sort of woodland is only found on steep sided valleys and are hugely important for wildlife but are highly sensitive to pollution. The road would also pass within metres of Church wood (ancient woodland), and other nationally and locally protected wildlife sites. [24] Friends of the Earth were concerned that building roads generates more traffic in the surrounding area, and would result in more vehicles using the roads to the north creating pressure in for communities on the approach roads [25] (such as the A21 and the A28). They also believed it would create pressure to build a 'Hastings Eastern Bypass' which would pass through the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which they claim is one of Britain's finest landscapes. The Sussex Wildlife Trust "strongly" objected to the road stating that "the environmental damage that will result from this scheme is unacceptable and will alter the ecology of the Combe Haven valley for ever." [26]

A public inquiry into the scheme started on 10 November 2009. [27]

When the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road was eventually approved, then changes also required to the A21 Baldslow / Queensway (which leads to the link road).

The entire project was completed in December 2015 at a cost of around £120 million. [28]

'£5m improvements near Shoreham'

In 2009, Brighton and Hove City Council, Adur District Council and West Sussex County Council, and the Shoreham Port Authority proposed to spend a £5million grant from the Department for Transport to 'improve the A259 in relation to a new project to build 10,000 homes scheme. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hastings</span> Town and borough in England

Hastings is a seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, 24 mi (39 km) east of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place 8 mi (13 km) to the north-west at Senlac Hill in 1066. It later became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. In the 19th century, it was a popular seaside resort, as the railway allowed tourists and visitors to reach the town. Today, Hastings, is a popular seaside resort and is still a fishing port with the UK's largest beach-based fishing fleet. Its estimated population was 91,100 in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Sussex</span> County of England

East Sussex is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is the city of Brighton and Hove, and the county town is Lewes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bexhill-on-Sea</span> Seaside town in East Sussex, England

Bexhill-on-Sea is a seaside town and civil parish in the Rother District in the county of East Sussex in South East England. It is located along the Sussex Coast and between the towns of Hastings and Eastbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romney Marsh</span> Wetland in south-east England

Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 square miles (260 km2). The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until the 18th century. Due to its location, geography and isolation, it was important for smugglers between the 17th and 19th centuries. The area has long been used for sheep pasture: Romney Marsh sheep are considered one of the most successful and important sheep breeds. Featuring numerous waterways, and with some areas lying below sea level, the Marsh has over time sustained a gradual level of reclamation, both through natural causes and by human intervention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wealden District</span> District in East Sussex, England

Wealden is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Hailsham, the district's second largest town. The district also includes the towns of Crowborough, Polegate and Uckfield, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The district's name comes from the Weald, the landscape and ancient woodland which occupies much of the centre and north of the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folkestone and Hythe District</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Folkestone and Hythe is a local government district in Kent, England. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the coast of the English Channel. The district was formed in 1974 and was originally named Shepway after one of the ancient lathes of Kent, which had covered a similar area. The district was renamed in 2018. The council is based in Folkestone, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Hawkinge, Hythe, Lydd and New Romney, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rother District</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Rother is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Bexhill-on-Sea. The district is named after the River Rother which flows within its boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A27 road</span> Major road in southern England

The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish in the county of Wiltshire, follows the south coast of Hampshire and West Sussex, and terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A21 road (England)</span> Major road in southern England running from London to Hastings

The A21 is a trunk road in Southern England, one of several which connect London and various commuter towns to the south coast. It provides a link to Hastings, East Sussex and parts of Kent. Half of the distance covered is over gently undulating terrain, with some hills and bends. Often traffic is slow-moving, particularly on weekdays on the short single carriageway stretches; and in summer with holiday traffic. Because of this, people have described the A21 as "a joke" and businesspeople have been reported to "hate coming down the A21". There have been many proposals to upgrade parts of the A21 in response to this.

Appledore is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village centre is on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh, 12 miles (19 km) south-west of Ashford town. The northerly part of this village is Appledore Heath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshlink line</span> Railway line in South East England

The Marshlink line is a railway line in South East England. It runs from Ashford, Kent via Romney Marsh, Rye and the Ore Tunnel to Hastings where it connects to the East Coastway line towards Eastbourne and Brighton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winchelsea railway station</span> Railway station in East Sussex, England

Winchelsea railway station is a railway station in East Sussex, England. It is about 0.62 miles (1 km) from Winchelsea and is actually in the neighbouring parish of Udimore. It is on the Marshlink line 9.3 miles (15 km) north east of Hastings, and train services are provided by Southern. The station originally had two platforms, but in 1979, the line was singled and only the up platform is now in use. The former down platform and station building are now converted to a private house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach South East</span> Bus operator based in Canterbury

Stagecoach South East is the trading name of East Kent Road Car Company Limited, a bus operator based in Canterbury providing services in Kent and East Sussex in the south east of England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group.

The following are lists of recreational walks in East Sussex, England

The South Coast Trunk Road is a former designation of a 222-mile (357 km) long route in southern England, sometimes called the Folkestone to Honiton trunk route. It is made up of several numbered roads :

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Sussex</span>

Sussex is a historic county and cultural region in the south of England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, north-east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove. The city of Brighton & Hove was created a unitary authority in 1997, and was granted City status in 2000. Until then Chichester had been Sussex's only city. By convention, Chichester is Sussex's capital city and Lewes is Sussex's county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A2070 road (Great Britain)</span> A-Road in Kent, England

The A2070 is a major road running north–south through Kent from Ashford to Brenzett. It provides a strategic link between the M20 motorway and the A259, which runs along the East Sussex coast.

References

  1. ↑ "Highways Agency Network Map". Highways Agency. November 2011. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Great Britain Results 2008". EuroRAP. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "Britain's most dangerous roads revealed". Autotrader.
  4. ↑ "A259 the worst road in Sussex". Eastbourne Herald. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "Every death on every road". BBC News. 2 December 2011.
  6. 1 2 "No by-pass? How about a link road". Rye News. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  7. ↑ Cooksey, Laurie. "The Monkbretton Road Bridge". Rye's Own. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  8. ↑ "Search results for MT 39/241". The National Archives.
  9. ↑ "House of Commons Hansard Debates". 13 July 1989.
  10. ↑ "Hastings/Bexhill bypass 'flawed'". BBC News. London. 15 February 2001. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  11. ↑ "Ruling Splits Opinion". BBC News. London. 12 July 2001. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "The A259 Trunk Road, (Brenzett to M20 Junction 13, Folkestone) (Detrunking) Order 2003". UK Government. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Highways Agency A259-A2070 Route Management Strategy" (PDF). East Sussex Council. 18 August 2019.
  14. ↑ Eccy de Jonge - Policing and Public Trust" Exposing the Inner Uniform. Rowman & Littlefield. 2021.
  15. ↑ "Bexhill to Hastings link road". East Sussex County Council. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  16. ↑ "South East England Regional Funding Advice" (PDF). South East Regional Assembly. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  17. ↑ "Response letter to South East England Regional Funding Advice" (PDF). Department for Transport. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  18. ↑ "Hastings Bexhill Major Scheme Business Case" (PDF). East Sussex County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  19. ↑ "Design and Access statement (section 2.1.1 - 174mb)" (PDF). East Sussex County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  20. ↑ "Hastings Alliance". Hastings Alliance.
  21. ↑ "Supporters". Hastings Alliance. December 2010.
  22. ↑ "Prosperity for Hastings" (PDF). South East Regional Assembly. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2012.
  23. ↑ "Reject Bexhill-Hastings link road". Campaign for Better Transport. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  24. ↑ "Bexhill to Hastings Link Road". Woodland Trust. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009.
  25. ↑ "Like a bad penny. why Friends of the Earth opposes the Bexhill" (PDF). Friends of the Earth. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  26. ↑ "Bexhill Hastings Link Road". Sussex Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  27. ↑ "Bexhill-Hastings link road cash sign-off slated by campaigners". planningresource.co.uk.
  28. ↑ "Hastings Bexhill £120m link road opens amid protests". BBC News. 17 December 2015.
  29. ↑ "Councils vow to revive Shoreham Harbour plans".
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