Pedestrian crossing for busy Hastings road approved

Plans for a long-called-for crossing place on a busy Hastings road have been approved this week.
Cllr Martin Clarke with a resident calling for a crossing at The Ridge.Cllr Martin Clarke with a resident calling for a crossing at The Ridge.
Cllr Martin Clarke with a resident calling for a crossing at The Ridge.

On Monday (September 23), Clare Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, approved proposals to build a new pedestrian crossing at The Ridge, between the Chowns Hill and Elphinstone Road junctions.

The decision comes after residents made numerous requests for a crossing on the road in recent years, council documents said.

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The move was welcomed ahead of the meeting by local ward councillor Martin Clarke (Con – Hastings, St Helens and Silverhill). He said: “ I know residents will be delighted to see this important new facility on this busy road.”

According to council documents, the scheme has not previously been considered to be a high priority by council officers, when compared to other proposals around the county.

However, the scheme is to be built with money from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) to improve transport in Hastings and Bexhill, rather than the council’s wider highways budget.

The proposals had already been put out for public consultation earlier this year, with most of the 71 respondents (79 per cent) supporting the scheme.

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However, there were several objections as well, as some residents took issue with the plans to place the crossing near to St Helen’s Church, rather than in the vicinity of Hastings Cemetery.

According to council crash data, there have been four (non-major) accidents on The Ridge in the three year period up to April 2019.  These were all reported to have happened near to the St Helen’s Church and Chowns Hill junction area.

No accidents were recorded in the vicinity of the Hastings Cemetery and Elphinstone Road junction, the council says.

Cll Dowling said: “I can understand why we have gone for this crossing in particular and the data backs that up. 

“I am very happy to approve this.”