New bus lanes will lead to serious incidents on the Hastings to Bexhill road

I read with interest the comments made by councillors Matthew Beaver and Karl Beaney in last week’s Observer regarding the new bus lane installation on the A259 Bexhill Road.

I had the misfortune to drive down this road recently on my way to the Ravenside shopping centre.

There were no warning signs indicating that the half-finished bus lanes were operational with some drivers choosing not to drive in the lanes and others ignoring the signage.

At one point where the road narrows, a large truck was approaching from the opposite direction and because I was driving in the single lane to avoid the bus lane on the left, the clearance between my legally driven 
car and the legally driven truck was hair-raising to say the least, and if the two vehicles had both been large trucks it is very clear that a serious accident could have occurred.

Looking at the proposed markings for these lanes and new bus stops it is very clear that the layout is going to lead to some serious incidents.

The road going towards Harley Shute road now has an extended no entry bus lane meaning that drivers wishing to access Harley Shute Road have to join the queue for vehicles travelling on to Hastings thus only being able to join the ‘left’ queue into Harley Shute road at the last minute – crazy or what.

The new traffic lanes created by these bus lanes are far too narrow and some of these bus lanes actually cross private property – how are residents expected to access their legally built driveways if they are not permitted to drive in the bus lane?

There is a garage near the Combe Haven caravan site which appears to have a bus lane directly across their forecourt.

How are customers supposed to access and exit this petrol station?

This entire scheme has been badly thought out and there are few buses to be seen along this road – all this money spent without due necessity.

It is interesting to note that the main A259 route into Hastings has only one bus lane – which beg the question how ESCC and HBC can justify the need for so many bus lanes in this stretch of the A259.

The anticipated hold ups will increase pollution on an already highly polluted road.

I sincerely hope councillors and residents alike will do everything possible to rectify the situation.