WSCC Cause Chaos In Burgess Hill Town Centre With New Traffic Light System

Residents are absolutely fuming with West Sussex County Council after their multi-million pound Burgess Hill Place and Connectivity program has caused a detrimental effect in the town centre.



A functional roundabout which served the east and west-bound traffic along Station Road, along with Mill Road and Church Road has been replaced by traffic lights which have actually caused traffic hold ups and not improved traffic flow in the slightest.

As soon at the new system was switched on, it was apparent that the design did not make any allowances for west-bound vehicles to filter off unhindered to the right and onto Church Road, this is because the east-bound traffic are also green-lighted to move at the same time. When the roundabout was in place, the east-bound traffic had to give way, now they don't.



A statement was released which blamed 'dangerous driver behaviour' and a failure of the east-bound traffic to give way, but there are is no signage or road markings telling the east-bound traffic to do anything in particular!

As a result, WSCC have made the traffic lights act in three phases, Station Road east- bound, Station Road west-bound and then Mill Road. This has caused large traffic hold-ups, identicle to the temporary traffic lights that road users have put up with for the best part of six months!

The town are waiting for someone to put their hand up and take responsibility for this complete mess. The Burgess Hill Place and Connectivity Project is a joint effort between Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council. Lots of high-ranking councillors, officers and consultants have been involved, but no one has come out to explan why it's all gone wrong.

MSDC Cabinet member Stephen Hillier (Haywards Heath) is the chairman of the working group, he and WSCC Cabinet Member for Highways Jon Dennis (Bolney) have not uttered a single word in public.



Residents' Petition Closes In On 1,000 Signatures
Residents have called for the complete reinstatement of the original roundabout. A petition has been created on change.org which is closing in on 1,000 signatures. You can sign it here - although there are some doubts if WSCC will offically recognise it in terms of triggering council action as the petition doesn't request your full postal address - something which WSCC needs.

A 'Reinstate Burgess Hill Roundabout' Facebook group has been created where hundreds of residents are venting their frustrations. Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/717998486350585

What Next?
Now that Christmas and New Year are out of the way, we'd expect an acknowledgement from the chairman of the steering group or the cabinet member for highways by the end of the week, swiftly followed by a proposal to enable the traffic to flow as easily as it did when it was a roundabout - even if that means reinstating the roundabout!