HOUSE OF COMMONS TRANSPORT COMMITTEE CRITIQUE OF ROAD INVESTMENT STRATEGY/RESPONSES AND REFLECTIONS ON THE REPORT/LORD DEBEN SAYS ‘NO NEW ROADS/TFSE CONFERENCE ON ‘REFRESHING THE STRATEGY FOR THE SOUTH EAST/A259 STUIDY AND PROPOSED MEASURES/BSIP DELIVERS NEW BUS SERVICES ACROSS THE COUNTY/BSIP NEXT STEPS: BUS PRIORITY MEASURES (YES PLEASE!) AND CONSULTATION/STATION TICKET OFFICE CLOSURE PROPOSALS (NO THANKS!)/CONQUEST- DGH HOSPITALS TRANSPORT GROUP: PROGRESS AND DEFINING HEALTH BENEFITS FROM ‘DITCHING THE CAR’/NEW RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE COUNTY? NOTHING IN THE LAST 40 YEARS: IF NOT NOW……./BLACK ROBIN FARM DEVELOPMENT ON SOUTH DOWNS.
‘PARLIAMENTARY REPORT CHALLENGES ‘OVER AMBITIOUS’ ROAD INVESTMENT PLANS. BETTER VALUE FOR MONEY COULD BE OBTAINED BY ‘INVESTMENT IN OTHER MODES OF TRANSPORT AND CONNECTIVITY’.
House of Commons Transport Committee – Strategic Road Investment report
- – has just been published looking into the Department for Transport’s whole approach to Road Investment Strategy (RIS) in England. The RIS was produced for 2015 – 2020 (RIS1); 2020 – 2025 (RIS 2); and 2025 onwards (RIS 3).
OUR SUMMARY OF POINTS:
- The all party Transport Committee makes many recommendations on what it sees as urgently needed changes in focus and direction. Here is a brief summary of the report’s conclusions which can be read via this link (it’s not too long and an is interesting read!) : highly critical report
- Investing in new roads, compared to investment in other modes/connectivity is contested.
- Department for Transport has modelled forecasts for increases in traffic, alongside great risks that uptake of cleaner vehicles will not be fast enough to meet 2050 goals to decarbonise transport – the biggest greenhouse gas contributor – suggests progress will be too slow to mitigate effects of increases in traffic.
- Government determination to accommodate demand for new roads without considering steps to manage demand, is a risky strategy.
- A debate is needed on targets to reduce car usage in England, and understanding its impact. Scotland and Wales have such targets.
- Project Rapid is welcomed with its dedicated fund to enhance electric vehicle charging provision on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). A quicker and greater roll out of supporting infrastructure will be required. Other technologies such as hydrogen should be included.
- Portfolios for future Road Investment Strategies (RIS) should prioritise investment in the maintenance, renewal and resilience of existing assets over brand new projects.
- Funding for day to day running and upkeep could come from cancelling complex, costly, enhancement projects.
- Over ambitiuous road planning has featured ‘optimism bias’ and Government should reconsider its portfolio of expensive, complex SRN projects.
- When setting a RIS, more robust assessment, with a wider range of stakeholders could better flag risks to project completion, and assess value for money.
- Stragegic Transport Bodies (STBs – such as Transport for the South East) have no formal input into RIS setting processes. They should have.
- Ministers are denied up to date information on RIS progress because there is no overall scrutiny or understanding of any RIS or individual project. There is no central information point (dashboard) on investment projects for ministers to consult.
Evidence was invited/accepted by the Committee from a wide range of bodies with transport/planning interests and that included Transport Futures East Sussex. The submissions are accessible to view with links at the end of the report document.
TRANSPORT ACTION NETWORK(TAN) – AUGUST NEWSLETTER (with more on the Transport Committee Report):
For a VERY INFORMATIVE round up of issues/actions compiled by TAN plus analysis, please see this link:
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FURTHER THOUGHTS ON THE REPORT
The ‘opportunity/cost’ principle described in the Transport Committee report calls for a greater scrutiny of SRN schemes and suggests that funds for alternatives to those could be switched to projects with prospects of better ‘value for money’. This could lead to delivery of many more ‘active travel’ and public transport measures – including but moving outside of the SRN. The principle of ‘traffic reduction’ is also recommended for evaluation and could lead to appropriate measures to achieve this outcome. There are already successful ‘best practice’ examples to follow with economic, environmental and public health dividends to show.
Below, the Highways England funded Polegate -Lewes cycleway opened this June. It touches the outer perimeter of Eastbourne which itself lacks essential integral urban cycle networks, and has poor connections to the high quality cycleway. The new route parallels the A27, subject of an offline £1bn proposal for new infrastructure, recently deferred until post 2025. We hope that funds for this potentially damaging, poor value for money scheme would be transferred to enable quick delivery of active travel, speedy delivery of bus and rail projects and strict quality control mechanisms for full integration of ‘transport’ and ‘planning’ measures. This should start with dynamic dialogue between a re-focussed Transport for the South East (TFSE), National Highways, Department for Transport, the Treasury, and – as recommended in the Committee report – a wider range of stakeholders.
TFSE are hosting a conference at the AMEX Community Stadium on September 19th – this follows their intention to ‘refresh’ their adopted strategy for the South East region. See below photos for link (Connecting the South East).
Polegate Lewes Cycleway – Firle Beacon view
Polegate – Lewes Cycleway – new River Cuckmere Bridge
SCATE East Sussex July Newsletter (below) features a call from former Conservative Minister Lord Deben for a halt to major road building schemes in England. Lord Deben (formerly Selwyn Gummer) has been Chair of the Government Advisory Committee on Climate Change for the last ten years. Transport for the South East (TFSE) recently announced that it is ‘refreshing’ its recently adopted Transport Strategy. Conference link here:
SCATE East Sussex Newsletter -below:
A259 MAJOR ROAD NETWORK (MRN) South Coast Corridor Study
The focus of this study has been the route between Saltdean and Eastbourne and we and other stakeholders have attended meetings. A package of measures is being considered (and some measures are funded and proceeding in any case). These include bridge widening at Exceat and measures deliverable via the next phase of Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP) concerning bus priority measures. (More on BSIP service improvements below).
East Sussex County Council (ESCC) admit that widening Cuckmere Bridge will bring more traffic. This in turn will necessitate measures at Sutton Corner, ( Seaford- Alfriston turnoff) to accommodate the extra vehicles. We have already objected to the bridge proposal and criricised the lack of clear plans to accommodate and encourage walking and cycling across the causeway, currently an unpleasant experience. There may be problems at the Litlington road junction at Exceat too. There is also a potential speeding problem, and noise and air pollution issues must be addressed. Further east, we suggested and suppported other interventions:
A pedestrian crossing at Cherry Garden Road, Old Town Eastbourne, to serve residents, including those living in the new care home, those visiting them and those who work there. There are bus stops very close by. Traffic management measures are under consideration here and adding a crossing would serve a need: bus services are frequent to town but elderly residents and families would apreciate a crossing to make the return trip less daunting.
Accommodation for pedestrians and cyclists at Memorial Roundabout and Langney Roundabout – and additionally at Upper Avenue Roundabout where there is conflict between high speed entry/exit motorised traffic and parents/children walking/scooting to school and attempting access to the nearest thing Eastbourne has to a ‘low traffic neighbourhood’: Gorringe Road amd Mayfield Place. The roundabout’s traffic includes vehicle trips with an ‘A259 character’ too and straddles several pedestrian routes.
The junction at The Avenue will likely feature a bus priority traffic signal for inbound buses that could also ease the passage of outbound Stagecoach and Brighton and Hove buses. These are often obstructed by inbound traffic turning right into Grove Road. We’d support this.
(See favourable roundabout design in previous post (DEC 22/JAN 23) along with Exceat Bridge feature).
NEW AND ENHANCED BUS SERVICES ARRIVED ACROSS EAST SUSSEX ON JULY 23RD, AS PHASE 1 OF THE BUS SDRVICE IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
For Eastbourne, Hastings, Rother (Bexhill, Battle), Wealden, Lewes – there was some good news for bus users and tempting options for car users. Many destinations now more easily accessible on 6 or 7 days a week. It really is down to the imagination and sense of adventure as to where you go for country walks in Weald, Downland, marshlands and nature reserves: market and coastal towns, heritage attractions, castles and gardens will all reward exploration. The daily commute and regular routine journeys will be more convenient by bus. In some cases, combinations of bus and train will now be easier.
There are at least three vineyards (Sedlescombe organic- bus 349 to Bodiam and Hawkhurst from Hastings Station; Carr Taylor, Westfield – bus 29 to Tenterden from Hastings Station; Chapel Down, Smallhythe – bus 312/29 from Rye/Hastings.Vineyard tours are safer by bus! There’s also a link from Etchingham station to Bateman’s at Burwash (National Trust) six days a week (Bus 231 travels on to Heathfield), and to Bodiam castle from Hastings station 7 days a week (bus 349). Uckfield, Heathfield and Hailsham now have greatly improved services via Stagecoach 51, 54 , and 98 (goes onwards to Herstmonceux, Boreham Street, Ninfield and Bexhill).
Brighton and Hove Regency (bus 28) now link Hailsham and Heathfield with Uckfield, Laughton, Ringmer, Lewes, Falmer and Brighton.
For all the above options, Ordnance Survey ‘Explorer’ maps (relevant map numbers here) are full of information and are accurate: of Romney Marsh/Rye(125), Hastings and Bexhill (124), High Weald (136), Eastbourne and Beachy Head (OL 25) and Brighton and Hove (OL 11) cover coasts and Downland, Weald and Marsh hinterlands with their wonderful diversity and unique characters, and include access to long distance footpaths: Sussex Border path; Royal Military Canal path, Saxon Shore walk, 1066 Country Walk, South Downs Way, Cuckoo Trail, Vanguard Way, Sussex Ouse Valley Way.
Public transport makes it possible to do linear walks, which may include well earned food and drink at the end!
Below: The Tenterden to Rye bus ready to leave. The service crosses valleys and ridges. Rail connections to Ashford and Hastings can be made at Rye. Smallhythe was the home of actress Ellen Terry and its museum and Barn Theatre are National Trust properties. Chapel Down vineyard is adjacent to the village which also has a 16th century church built with Flemish bricks. The 312 travels on from Rye to Rye Harbour. Photos below:
Rye Bus at Tenterden; Chapel Down Vineyard – and view towards Romney Marsh, with Isle of Oxney
Hastings Station: welcome bus information screen: we’ve waited over a decade for this! Castle in back ground, and a small passenger in learning mode!
Services are described here across the Districts and Boroughs of East Sussex:
Getting around by bus and train: County Interactive Bus Map, and South East Community Rail Partnership info+ maps – all lines are shown: links here –
Southeast Community Rail Partnership website.
BUS SERVICE IMPROVEMENT PLANS – CONSULTATION ON NEXT PHASE
There are now more opportunities for bus use on many routes in the county and we have to commend ESCC for creative use of the funding for the service improvements: other rural local authorities have fared less well – Kent for example.
These services give options for many journey purposes and for all sections of the community. There are gaps – and we’ll press for these to be filled and in some cases, linked to rail services (Heathfield to Uckfield station for example). However, without complementary bus priority measures, value for money invested will be limited and the new services will be vulnerable to cuts after 2026 – the end of the funding period. Let’s get the priority measures in place ASAP! They are proven to work – improving bus journey times and reliability. They also reduce traffic, as in Brighton. Who wants more traffic?
The link below describes bus priority measures proposed to make the buses more competitive and free from delays from traffic congestion. Measures such as these have made huge differences to reliability of services in Brighton and led to fewer vehicles on the road which has reduced congestion. Newhaven, Seaford and Peacehaven bus users on the excellent Brighton and Hove Coastway routes (12X,13X) have long been aware of the benefits of priority measures on the A259.
Blocked for many years, proposals in Eastbourne have come forward again and councillors appear to have adopted a more enlightened approach to such much needed measures: Eastbourne has declared a ‘climate emergency’ and a much bigger role for ‘shared transport’, both bus and rail, has been defined in parliament as a key way forward – electric cars are only part of any solution and won’t solve congestion or the spread of ‘car dependent’ housing developments.
Please have a look at the proposals and if you can, go along to the exhibitions advertised.
We think: they must fit with ‘active travel’ measures which make walking and cycling attractive options; they should be provided in parallel with ‘active travel’ networks which are very late off the starting blocks; and bearing in mind that the funding for the bus improvements lasts only until 2026, need to be in place as soon as possible. Clarity is needed on cycle links and there place alongside the bus priority measures. If the extravagant, and costly (up to £1bn) off line A27 Lewes – Polegate scheme is scrapped, then funds could be freed for much needed expansion of high ‘value for money’ ‘sustainable transport’ measures in the county. That seems to be a message in the Transport Report featured here.
East Sussex BSIP Bus Priority Measures – East Sussex – Citizen Space
NATION WIDE CALLS TO RETAIN RAILWAY STATION TICKET OFFICES
Giving very short notice of their consultation, train operating companies have announced that they intend to close ‘Ticket and Information’ offices across England. Instead, they say their intention is to locate staff around the station to deal with enquiries and to sell tickets. We have objected to these proposals and met with Eastbourne MP Caroline Ansell to make our views clear. We think:
The dialogue and professional advice offered in a dedicated space allows the best travel options to be explored in a way that is impossible in a crowded open space thronged with passengers, student groups and vulnerable would be passengers,with special needs. It is even more essential given the hugely complex set of rail fares available but seldom wholly understood. There are always first time train users, including visitors from overseas who need advice and information.
In a time of climate crisis, we need to encourage a whole new constituency of rail and bus users and a safe, comfortable space within which to guide them through the wonderful possibilities that train travel can offer should always be there. In the meantime, over the public address systems in our staions, propaganda messages promising a wonderful new future without the ticket offices is being pumped out!
Below, Eastbourne Ticket and Information Office – Passengers (NOT customers) needing assistance from experts:
The public consultation on ticket office closures now runs until September 25th. See link below:
EASTBOURNE AND HASTINGS CROSS SITE HOSPITAL TRANSPORT GROUP
The August meeting of the group heard of progress towards meeting its aims of reducing traffic impact of the two sites – including Bexhill Hospital – and promoting and securing ‘healthy transport options’ and reducing car dependency.
Professor Scarlett Mc Nally, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH), gave a presentation on measures and strategies to increase take-up of ‘active travel’ modes in order to improve health of the wider population. Her presentation is here, plus a link to her article on the same theme from the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Links to both:
The Transport group also heard from Neil Maguire of ESCC (Public Transport) of an early success of a new ‘shift pattern related’ bus service from Hastings station to the Conquest Hospital. Departing at 06.23, it conveyed 12 staff to work. A good sign! There had also been a good take-up of monthly Stagecoach bus tickets offered at 10% discount to hospital staff. Brighton University representative at the meeting spoke of the new Brighton and Hove Buses Hailsham – Ringmer – Lewes – Falmer – Brighton service (28) as being potentially very helpful to students accessing the University.
Other points raised: The deterrence of the DGH roundabout to cycling on Kings Drive, Eastbourne; provision of more charging points at the DGH; increased Sunday frequency of Stagecoach 99 Hastings – Bexhill – Eastbourne to two buses per hour; lack of clarity over facilities intended for pedestrians and cyclists over the causeway across the Cuckmere river at Exceat, following the doubling of the bridge and increased traffic forecasts; unhelpful that Local Transport Plan (LTP) guidance from Government for English authorities is as yet unpublished; concern that aggressive, intimidatiing driving styles – a deterrent to wider take-up of walking and cycling go largely unchallenged*; more ‘school streets’ projects but on a much larger scale would be welcome, along with ‘low traffic neighbourhoods’ and 20mph default limits in residential areas.
*on this subject, and following a fatal crash involving a pedestrian on a zebra crossing in Eastbourne, I sent this letter to my councillor:
RAIL REOPENINGSAND NEW RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE?
A final link (below) concerning proposals for rail services to be restored between Uckfield and Lewes received yesterday. Plans are included in the Transport for the South East Transport Strategy for this restoration that would bring multiple benefits to a swathe of East Sussex, Surrey and West Kent. There have been no new stations in the county for over 40 years, and the only reopening projects have been on preserved railways. Other parts of the UK have seen progress and in East Sussex, we yearn for long called for new rail infrastructure including stations to provide access and support traffic reduction.
ONGOING STUDY – BLACK ROBIN FARM PROJECT ON EASTERN SOUTH DOWNS
Investment funding (Levelling Up Fund)is already secured for a ‘cultural/educational’ visitor centre at the farm on the South Downs between the A259 and Beachy Head. Suggested visitor numbers to ensure viability are 100,000. It is difficult to imagine how sustainable access might be achieved for those numbes and we await the results of a ‘Travel Plan’ being prepared by consultants for the promoters of the scheme, Eastbourne Borough Council. A planning application has not yet been submitted.
I hope this update is of interest. Please feel free to contact me (derrick.coffee@talk21.com) with details of any issue of concern.
Best Wishes, Derrick Coffee (Transport Futures East Sussex)
Transport Futures East Sussex/Campaign for Better Transport / Hastings Alliance 