Sixty people attended a public meeting to discuss safety concerns about the junction of Military Road and Rye Hill on Friday afternoon 4 September.
They heard Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore and Rye and Eastern Rother councillor Dan Bradley share their worries about the road and the need for urgent action.
“I have been raising concerns about this dangerous junction with East Sussex County Council for five months now,” said Helena Dollimore. “It is time for them to act before an accident happens here.”
“I see the dangers every day,” said Dan Bradley. “Cars and vans speed over the railway bridge making it hard for people to cross the road safely.”
The meeting heard calls for a new pedestrian crossing to create a safer route between Military Road and Rye town centre. Road signs need improving and the markings on the bridge need repainting, residents told the meeting.
Helena Dollimore has launched a petition to urge the county council to act on residents’ concerns. Dan Bradley is meeting the local road steward next week to explore options, with more discussions expected with East Sussex Highways. A further community meeting is being arranged for October.
Image Credits: Paul Camic .
I wrote to ESCC about this crossing over 20 years ago when my elderly mother lived in Military Road. Their reply was that there had been no incidents or fatalities and couldn’t justify a pedestrian crossing!
A late holiday prevented my wife and I from attending the recent public meeting at which our local constituency MP Helena Dollimore was pictured. Since the issue of the constant danger posed by fast traffic on Rye Hill at the Military Road junction was identified to her, Ms.Dollimore has shown a genuine and positive interest in improving safety at this much-used and ‘no-alternative-route’ crossing.
Until now complaints to the Council, Conservation Society and others about the situation have gained no traction but hopefully we can move forward to a solution which will not require canvassing for a volunteer for martyrdom at the junction.
I live in Military Road and attended. The simplest solution, in my opinion, is “Sleeping Policemen” across both sides of the road that run from Costcutter, over the bridge and both up Rye Hill and Military Rd with about 30 metres between each one. I won’t cost ESCC the earth and cars can’t speed..simple!
They should do the same on Cinque Ports St by the mini roundabout next to Rye Sushi too. The speed cars go through there is crazy!
If ESCC place ‘Sleeping Policemen’ on this stretch of road, every household in close proximity will literally feel their homes shudder every time an HGV or large agricultural vehicle passes over them. Considering the landslips that have occurred nearby, anything that will increase vibration to that level, is a bad idea.
With a maximum speed of about 15mph between each ramp there will be no shuddering any more than when they are going at normal speed.
It is not just the very awkward crossing at the end of Military Road that is the only problem on Rye Hill as there are difficulties too further up the hill. Many people use Rye Hill to walk into town including people who may well be unfamiliar with the layout (e.g. those using campsites in Leasam Lane). A very significant percentage of vehicles coming down the Hill turn right into Deadman’s Lane for quicker access to the town centre as do cars originating from Military Road and therefore turning left into the lane from Rye Hill. Many elderly people from St. Bartholomew’s Court or from the Medical Centre walking down the hill into town have to cross the junction at Deadman’s Lane and run the gauntlet of vehicles coming from both directions without the assistance of a proper dropped kerb which for those with sight difficulties in particular presents a considerable problem. Vehicles making the turn rarely allow pedestrians to cross safely in front of them. This situation is unacceptable. People from St.Bartholomew’s could of course take the bus into town with their free bus passes but that means crossing the road to the bus stop close to Playden Church, this time without the help of a midway island. And then of course there is the difficulty of the narrow pathway down Rye Hill, overhanging vegetation, not to mention the speed of vehicles, large and small, lorries and tractors, both up and down the hill whose drivers routinely breach the 30 mph limit, often between 40 and 50 at a conservative estimate. I suppose the authorities are waiting for, let’s be frank, a fatality on the hill before action will be taken. I would recommend a road island close to the Medical Centre, proper dropped kerbs at the Deadman’s Lane junction and more road markings and 30 mph circular signs (there is only one small and feeble example) as a start to solving problems on this road. The A259 both east and west out of the town is regularly publicised. Rye Hill (A268) is the Cinderella road which however provides just as much ample opportunity for accidents.
I agree about the need for better signs and road markings. A much larger “pedestrians crossing” warning sign for for traffic approaching from Landgate would also be a great help. Having negotiated the tricky stretch of road from the roundabout to the Landdgate junction, once they reach the bridge drivers accelerate away in relief and it is doubtful that they even notice the small existing sign. Alternatively, they could be seeing this as a challenge in view of the speeds reached by the time they reach the highest point of the bridge!
The pavement is also blocked at one point where wheelie bins and a car is parked.