County Councillors are set to give the green light to plans for a new crossing on The Ridge after a vigorous campaign by local councillor Martin Clarke.

A consultation earlier in the summer showed that 79 per cent of local people wanted the crossing signal-controlled pedestrian crossing just to the south of the junction with Chowns Hill, it will help residents get to the existing bus stops as well as other local amenities including St Helens church and hall and the nearby care home.

This week Councillor Claire Dowling East Sussex County Council’s Lead Member for Transport and the Environment is expected to give the go-ahead to the construction of the pedestrian crossing which is to be funded from the council’s capital programme for local transport improvements.

This project started some time ago. There was a local survey in 2017 and Councillor Clarke has had numerous conversations with local people about getting a crossing for this busy stretch of road. He heard that crossing this busy road is a problem for local residents including people wanting to get the bus, visit the new pub or cross over and back to the cemetery. The increased traffic on The Ridge is now causing big problems with long waits for gaps in the traffic and even elderly folk not able to cross at all, isolating them to one side of the road or the other.

The Consultation exercise with local residents in May was a detailed one advising them of the details of the scheme and asking for feedback. Residents saw details of the scheme showing the proposed location of the signal-controlled pedestrian crossing. The details of the changes they saw on the drawings include two new street lighting columns with traffic signals at the location of the crossing, new lighting columns on both of the approaches to the crossing, relocation of the existing north bound bus stop adjacent to St Helen’s Church, a new dropped kerb adjacent to St Helen’s Church to allow off-street parking for the church, and new road markings and signs.

Mr Clarke said, “ I know residents will be delighted to see this important new facility on this busy road and as the local councillor I’m very happy that I have been able to make this happen.”