This article is the second in a Rye News series about the Rye Neighbourhood Plan which the town may be asked to approve in a referendum later this year - and this time we focus on traffic problems.
Residents campaigning for a 20mph speed limit on our main roads have apparently been told that a 20mph limit would affect the flow of traffic - which, perhaps, is exactly what the residents want to do.
However, though what Highways England wants may be right in the case of the A1, or even the A21, the A259 is clearly perceived to be a very minor major road as the more numbers a road has, the less important it is. So the B2089 up Udimore Road is an even more minor, minor road - as a minor B road (less than A) with four numbers.
But civil servants tend to quote the law in general (as well as research in general) too often , without looking at specific circumstances. I know this because I worked in Whitehall for nearly 20 years.
A Rye resident is right therefore to be pursuing our MP, Amber Rudd, with some specific local points she wants addressing, including
- road markings which have not been redone, placing pedestrians at risk because cars are not stopping (despite Belisha beacons)
- a survey of cars in Winchelsea Road which showed the 30mph speed limit being constantly broken (probably because cars speed up from the Winchelsea hairpin hill into the straight road on to Rye) and
- our heritage town with its ancient buildings is being damaged by un-necessarily speeding traffic.
Her solutions included speed cameras, more signs telling drivers if they are over the speed limit, a roundabout where Rye Harbour Road joins the main road (a frequent source of traffic jams) , and a mandatory 20mph speed limit around the town. She received a letter in reply three days later in the course of which Amber Rudd said.
"Please be assured that I appreciate your concerns in this matter. Accordingly, I have written to Mr Rupert Club, Director of Communities, Economy and Transport at East Sussex County Council, in order to request his comments to address the points you have raised...........I will write to you again once I have received Mr Club's response"
The Neighbourhood Plan also aspires to a 20mph speed limit on certain roads (but probably outside Highway England's control) and more speeding signs on the main routes. The Plan however is careful to separate things a Neighbourhood Plan has the power to do , and those which are "unfunded intentions for which Rye Town Council has neither the authority nor the funding"and "implementation is dependant on the agreement of partners".
The Plan goes on to say that a strategic project, such as a bypass, is beyond the remit of neighbourhood planning, and the last consideration of a bypass (in 95/96) ended so the Department of Transport could focus on the Bexhill-Ridge link to the A21, which finally opened last year.
In her email to the MP, the resident also said that she had grave concerns about the increase in traffic going through Rye since the Bexhill Bypass was completed. And, as a resident of Valley Park off the B2089 Udimore Road, I too have grave concerns about the increase (and speed) of traffic down that hill and into the town. Only a few days ago I saw a giant foreign lorry with a trailer (making it even larger and longer) negotiating with very great difficulty the right hand turn from Station Approach into the narrowest part of Cinque Ports Street.
The next article will look at particular danger points in the town where the traffic needs to be controlled; and where Highways England needs to be aware and acknowledge that the A259 is going through a historic town with narrow streets often packed with pedestrians.
Photo: John Minter
