East Sussex BSIP Bus Priority Measures - Seaside & St Anthony's Avenue, Eastbourne

Overview

This is the consultation for the revised bus priority measures for Seaside and St Anthony’s Avenue in Eastbourne as part of the East Sussex Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

The consultation has now closed and we are analysing the responses.

The revised bus priority design for Seaside and St Anthony’s Avenue, Eastbourne proposes:

• Eastbound bus lane between Windermere Crescent and Seaside Roundabout to speed up journey times for buses, improve bus reliability and reduce congestion for other road users
• Westbound bus lane between Langney Roundabout and Seaside Roundabout to speed up journey times for buses, improve bus reliability and reduce congestion for other road users
• Two new pedestrian crossings at Seaside Roundabout, and three new pedestrian crossings near St Andrew’s Church, Co-op and Lidl respectively to provide safe crossing points for pedestrians
• Retaining existing parking spaces wherever possible in response to the 2023 consultation feedback and prioritising parking outside of homes and businesses
• Introducing new parking spaces to offset the removal of some parking spaces that allow the new bus lanes

We expect the bus journey times along Seaside and St Anthony’s Avenue to decrease by up to 7 minutes per bus trip at the most congested times. Across a whole week there would be an accumulated weekly total of 76 hours of journey time savings for buses with over 14,000 passengers per week benefitting from these time savings.

Please click here to see a breakdown of the bus journey time savings.

The revised design has some key differences to the 2023 consultation proposals:

Please see the FAQs for further information.

Revised Proposals

You can also view and download the revised proposals here

Parking Provision

We know from the outcome of the 2023 consultation that parking provision and the potential loss of parking spaces was of great concern to residents and local businesses.  The table below shows the existing kerbside parking on Seaside and St Anthony's Avenue as well as the lengths of parking proposed to be retained in the 2023 scheme and, following the consultation feedback, in the revised scheme.

On Seaside, under the revised proposal, we can retain 296m of parking, which is equivalent to 54% of current on-street parking. On St Anthony's Avenue, under the revised proposal, we can retain 280m of parking, which is equivalent to 57% of current on-street parking. (these calculations have been made using 5.5m as equivalent to 1 parking space)

East Sussex Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP)

East Sussex County Council received funding from the Department for Transport for the East Sussex Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).  The East Sussex BSIP actively addresses the Government’s National Bus Strategy and aims to improve bus services in the county by:

• Improving the reliability of buses 

• Encouraging more people to travel by bus  

• Improving bus journey times 

• Increasing the number of journeys made by bus rather than by car 

• Reducing congestion on the roads 

• Tackling vehicle emission and climate change concerns 

To achieve these aims, East Sussex County Council are working in close cooperation with local bus operators, neighbouring Local Transport Authorities (e.g. West Sussex, Brighton & Hove), community and business voices, bus passengers, and the voluntary and health transport sector. 

A 2018 Bus Passenger Survey identified ‘bus punctuality’ and ‘journey times’ as areas to improve in East Sussex. The East Sussex BSIP will help tackle these challenges through improvements that prioritise buses on our roads, speeding up journeys and making it easier for buses turn up on time. This will help to increase overall connectivity across Eastbourne and ensure more reliable and efficient bus services serving Seaside and St Anthonys Avenue.

Previous BSIP Bus Priority Consultation 2023

East Sussex County Council ran a consultation on a package of BSIP bus priority measures between 31 July and 25 September 2023.  This consultation was for seven proposed bus priority proposals in Eastbourne, Newhaven and Peacehaven/Telscombe.  Five of these proposals were endorsed and are progressing into their next design stages. You can read the 2023 consultation brochure online.

During the 2023 consultation, a total of 1,505 consultation responses were received for the Seaside and St Anthony’s Avenue scheme.  The majority of respondents opposed the proposal for Seaside and St Anthonys Avenue.  The issue respondents were most concerned about was the loss of parking due to the introduction of the bus lanes.

The 2023 consultation report was considered by the County Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Environment on 15 January 2024.  The recommended decision for Seaside and St Anthonys Avenue was to revisit the design in response to the initial consultation feedback .

As a result, the original proposed design for Seaside and St Anthony’s Avenue has been reviewed and revised to try to find a solution which balances the competing demands for the use of the available road space.

The revised design, as presented in this consultation, has been produced in response to the 2023 consultation feedback and further engagement with local community businesses representatives and bus operators.    

Why your views matter

Following the 2023 public consultation we listened to all the feedback and comments received. We have reviewed the design to address the key concerns that were raised while still delivering the overall aims of the BSIP.

We now want your feedback and comments on this revised proposal.

We have developed a FAQs document to aid in answering any additional questions you may have on the proposals.

You can also contact the project team directly via email, using the contact details at the top of this page, or come and see us at one of our community consultation events.

What happens next

What happens next

The consultation runs until 18 August 2024. Following this, the responses we get will be brought together and analysed which will then inform a report on the consultation.  The consultation report will be presented to the East Sussex BSIP Partnership Project Board and the Lead Member for Transport and Environment in Autumn 2024 with recommended next steps.