New bridge to ease bottleneck a step closer

The current single lane bridge creates a bottleneck for traffic, East Sussex County Council says

A replacement road bridge to address a bottleneck is a step closer to being built after a council was given permission by the government to buy extra land.

East Sussex County Council has been told it can buy three pieces of land and change the road layout to build a new bridge over the Cuckmere River on the A259 at Exceat, near Seaford.

The new two-way bridge is hoped to be an approvement on the current single-lane bridge.

The authority is expected to announce the contractors it has chosen for the project in December, with work set to begin in the spring.

Claire Dowling, the council's lead member for transport and environment, said: "This is a huge project that will make a positive difference with the removal of the bottleneck, reduction in journey times and improvement to accessibility for visitors to the area."

The legal orders confirmed by the transport secretary include the compulsory purchase of land, the realignment of the existing road, adding a public right of way and local accesses, re-profiling the river and road embankments, adding traffic calming measures and providing a habitat area.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "Confirming the Exceat bridge scheme will help unlock the A259 corridor between Eastbourne and Seaford, improve journeys and give better access to the Seven Sisters Country Park.

"We are committed to empowering local authorities to deliver infrastructure that puts its communities first and boosts growth."