In a opinion published in Rye News last year I suggested that a link road going to the north of the railway from Ferry road to the bottom of Rye Hill, near the junction with Military Road would ease the traffic congestion.
Looking at it again, my idea would be to make this road one way from west to east carrying the A259 traffic from Hasting towards Folkestone. The existing A259 road that goes along South Undercliff would then be one way in the opposite direction, east to west. This would create a one way ring road around Rye which would carry all the though traffic that is currently squeezed into the existing A259. The space created by a one-way system would allow a cycle lane to be included in the ring road and which could connect with the proposed "Greenway" from Tilling Green.
The new north section of the A259 would allow the development of a BP filling station which we know they want to build in Rye and possibly a Travelodge - which is looking for sites in the Rother district - to be built between the new road and Deadmans Lane. The old lower school site at the Ferry Road end could then be used to build a supermarket together with much needed car parking The ring road would go North of this. To avoid the necessity of local traffic having to cross the ring road, a link road from the ring road at the old school site to the east of Tillingham Avenue joining up with Tilling Green Estate would be needed, the area bordering this road to be used for new housing development.
Less traffic using the A259 to the south would facilitate the development of Rock Channel by reducing traffic congestion.
All roads inside the ring road would have a 20mph speed limit while the outside of the ring road would be for regenerative development. The outcome of high speed trains if they are to use the railway track though Rye could mean closing the level crossing and rebuilding the road bridge at the bottom of Rye Hill also extending the station platforms.
A much needed bypass, as proposed in the past, is unlikely due to the cost and absence of government funding.
A link to form a ring road could be financed locally by developers of the petrol station, Travelodge, supermarket, housing developers and Network Rail when they upgrade the railway.
