Permanent closure of St Leonards road to be discussed

On Wednesday (October 13), East Sussex County Council’s planning committee is due to determine a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) which would ban motorists from using Junction Road — a small stretch of highway which connects The Ridge West to Sedlescombe Road North (the A21).

According to council papers, the closure forms part of the Queensway Gateway Road scheme and would only come into force once this wider project has been completed.

As part of this project, a new roundabout would be built to connect Sedlescombe Road North to the Queensway Gateway Road.

In a report to be considered by the committee, a council planning spokesman said: “The closure of Junction Road forms part of the overall delivery of the Queensway Gateway Road, which was granted planning permission by Hastings Borough Council and has been partly implemented over the last two to three years.

“This scheme is expected to improve journey times and road safety in this area, as well as reducing congestion.”

The report also notes that a number of objections have been raised to the TRO.

These include an objection from a local bus company, which argues the closure would result in an increased journey length on two of its routes. Officers dispute this, however, arguing the full scheme would decrease journey times despite the longer route.

Other objections raised concerns about the impact of the closure on traffic congestion, both at the A28/A21 junction and in Maplehurst Road. Officers also dispute this, but say further mitigation works could be considered if appropriate in future.

Officers concluded that these objections are not sufficient grounds to withdraw the proposals.