Action taken to reduce gridlock in Burgess Hill caused by new traffic lights

The lights, which are at the junction of Station Road, Church Road and Mill Road, were causing ‘long queues in all directions’, according to several people who have contacted the Middy.

West Sussex County Council put in the lights replacing the mini-roundabout as part of work to improve cycling and pedestrian use as part of the Burgess Hill Place and Connectivity Phase One.

But its monitoring of the junction showed it was not performing as expected.

There were concerns with the right-hand movement on to Church Road that requires road users to give way. When the lights were first turned on county council’s traffic signal team witnessed several dangerous movements from drivers failing to give way when making the right-hand turn into Church Road.

As a result it made changes to the phasing of the lights over the holiday period by removing the two-way movement in Station Road as a ‘temporary safety measure’.

But WSCC now says it has improved the signage and road markings at the junction and will bring back the originally intended two-way movement today (Friday January 6) which it says will ‘improve the traffic flow’.

A county council spokesman added: “These works are part of the wider Local Growth Fund, Burgess Hill Place and Connectivity Programme, being delivered to support improved sustainable transport infrastructure throughout Burgess Hill. The £4.7million project focuses on encouraging more cycling and walking in the town to lower congestion and increase health and wellbeing by providing improvements for pedestrians, cyclists and enhancements to public spaces through Station Road, Queen Elizabeth Avenue and Wivelsfield Station areas. This follows on from the 2021/22 provision of approximately 14km of pedestrian and cycle improvements through the Burgess Hill Green Circle and Townwide Connections.

“We are currently on track to have these works completed in the first half of this year, with the next area being between Queens Crescent and the Civic Way Roundabout. These works will require the use of temporary traffic signals for the safety of the workforce and the travelling public.”