As promised in the last update, here is the map from Brighton & Hove City Council's 2021 consultation on the Western Road Improvement project (Western Road consultation leaflet_web.pdf). Unfortunately, we have been unable to find this document on the Council's website and so we are unable to give you the link. If anyone would like a copy, please email us.
We have searched this leaflet for 'diversion' and 'Upper North Street' and we get the message 'No Results Found'. In the leaflet, the Council says "...all access to properties would be maintained...". Residents in Montpelier Terrace and Upper North Street will have great difficulty accessing their properties because, even if they are able to find a resident permit bay in the street, they will be trapped in their car as buses pass very close, every 2 minutes, to maintain two way traffic in the 5.5 m of road available in Upper North Street.
The leaflet is reassuring about monitoring. Traffic and cycle counters or video surveys are to be used to record pedestrian, traffic and cycle movements. Public opinion surveys will also be carried out before the changes take place. As the project has already started, presumably the pre-change public opinion survey has already taken place. We shall request the results of the survey. Have any of our supporters been contacted?
Today we received more information from the Council. We are currently analysing this. Our preliminary opinion is that it raises more questions than it answers. The Council will use feedback from bus operators on the flow of traffic. Why not from residents? Road traffic collisions are monitored, but we want them to be prevented! It is intended to install mobile vehicle activated signs at 2 locations in Montpelier Terrace and Upper North Street. "These will alert drivers if they are exceeding the speed limit and also collect traffic and speed data." What traffic and speed data is collected by these signs. How, and when, will the data be shared with residents? Do these instruments collect all the data promised in the consultation leaflet?
In our view, the 2021 consultation was seriously defective as it did not include consultation on how the Council intended to implement the project. We are seeking advice on this.