County says sorry for traffic chaos

Massive disruption ensued after traffic signals at the junction of the swing bridge and South Way broke down on Friday evening.

The work, which follows last year's disruptive flyover repairs, is a bid to improve traffic flow through the town centre by changing the layout, allowing South Way access to Bridge Street.

It is hoped it will encourage more people to visit the neglected town centre.

But Newhaven motorist Paul Farley, from Rose Walk, said people were now avoiding it in droves because of delays. 'If this scheme is meant to improve access and business in Newhaven town centre then someone at the council or its design consultants is living in cloud cuckoo land.

'We now shop at Brighton Marina or Eastbourne to avoid the delays. I know of at least one business who has had customers tell her they are now shopping in Seaford rather than sit in traffic on The Drove for 45 minutes.

'On Sunday it was easier for us to drive to Kingston rather than use the garden centre across the river.'

The county council's lead cabinet member Tony Reid admitted the delays had been 'excessive'.

He said: 'On Friday evening, the temporary traffic signals failed in the peak period at the same time as the swing bridge opened to shipping on three occasions. The resulting delays took a long time to clear.

'The signals were repaired but, regrettably, there were knock-on problems that could not be resolved until after the weekend. As a result of this, delays over the weekend were excessive.

'The signal timings have now been refined and arrangements have been made to control lights manually whenever queues build up.'

He added: 'I am sorry that people have been inconvenienced and we will do everything possible to minimise delays. When the works are completed, we will monitor the situation carefully but delays to through traffic should be much less and access to parts of the town centre should be easier, which is the main rationale for the scheme.

'It will pave the way for the next phases of work which will make it easier for traffic and pedestrians to get on to and leave Denton Island, where regeneration is already beginning, and to improve the environment in the High Street itself.'

When the county consulted on the plans last year, there was strong support from the town and district councils and many local organisations, said Cllr Reid.

'Many people told us that they were concerned about the decline of Newhaven town centre and felt that the ring road is strangling the town centre, giving too much priority to through traffic. Clearly, altering the status quo to favour local needs will have an adverse effect on through traffic but it was concluded that any adverse effect would be limited and that the overall improvements would be worthwhile,' he said.

The work is due to finish by the middle of March.