What has LTP3 delivered?
Introduction
LTP3 has delivered a range of transport infrastructure schemes at varying scales, services and initiatives using a variety of different funding sources.
The main source of funding for transport infrastructure improvements has been the government’s annual allocation of capital funding to local authorities for highway maintenance and integrated transport schemes and road safety improvements.
Both the highways maintenance and integrated transport grant funding received by the County Council was included in the annual County Council’s capital programme for these specific uses. Any further measures were developed and delivered following ESCC and their partners ability to secure external funding.
Funding sources
- Full or partial funding for schemes came from a variety of different sources. These include:
- Capital Funding for highways maintenance and integrated transport/road safety(East Sussex County Council).
- Development contributions (s106 and Community Infrastructure Level (CIL)).
- Government – Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Local Growth Fund, Levelling Up Fund)
- Government - Department for Transport (Active travel related funding, Bus Service Improvement Plan funding)
- Government - Active Travel England (Active Travel Fund)
- Private contributions.
- Public Health England.
The range of funding sources shows our success in securing funding for delivery of LTP3.
In addition, infrastructure, services and initiatives that support the delivery of the East Sussex Local Transport Plan 3 will have been delivered through other partners such as:
- National Highways,
- Network Rail and the train operating companies (Southern and Southeastern),
- Local bus operators,
- Borough and district Councils and
- By developers as part of housing and employment development.
Delivered Schemes
Types of schemes
Over the lifetime of LTP3 delivery of a range of scheme types has taken place. These include:
Active travel (walking, wheeling and cycling)
In accordance with the prioritised objective of improving safety, health and security and tackling climate change, ESCC and their partners a greater level of funding towards these types of schemes, during the duration of the plan. It delivered the following types of schemes, services and initiatives:-
- Cycle routes and connections
- Pedestrian and cycle crossings
- School crossing patrols
- Bikeability
- Travel behaviour change programmes (with schools, communities and workplaces)
- School Street trials (six schools) – during Covid-19 – and three permanent schemes
Public Transport
To specifically improve accessibility and enhance social inclusion LTP3 delivered greater enhancements to bus travel.
- Bus priority infrastructure (e.g. bus lanes)
- Bus stop infrastructure (e.g. real time passenger information at stops, bus shelters).
- Bus services – improved frequencies or new connections (including Flexibus).
- Lower bus fares.
- Supporting community transport.
Multimodal
LTP3 kickstarted the re-design of road space, especially in our coastal towns, prioritising access for pedestrians and interchange between active modes and public transport.
- Town Centre public realm improvement schemes (e.g. Hailsham, Uckfield, Eastbourne)
- Interchange opportunities (e.g. Newhaven Interchange (bus-rail-ferry)).
- Traffic management measures
- Cycle parking and accessibility improvements at rail stations
- Lobbying strategic transport partners (road, rail and aviation) for inclusion/delivery of strategic transport infrastructure and services in plans and programmes- where the delivery of change is by other organisations (e.g. changes to train times, A27 small scale improvements).
Road
To specifically support the delivery of economic competitiveness and growth in the county, the LTP3 period delivered some key highway infrastructure projects as well maintaining our existing highway asset and improving road safety for all users.
- Maintenance programme (highways and pedestrian footways)
- Improved connectivity (e.g.Combe Valley Way (providing a link between Bexhill & Hastings), Newhaven Port Access Road).
- Local safety schemes (e.g. box schemes and hazard marker posts)
- Speed limit reviews.
Case Studies
Eastbourne Pedestrian Crossings
- What was the problem being solved?
-
Improving safety for pedestrians. Making it easier for pedestrians to cross the road (known as reducing severance).
- What was delivered?
-
Kings Drive
This new crossing is on Kings Drive, north of Mill Gap Road and Tutts Barn Lane.
The A2021 is a busy distributor road. It also has residential properties adjacent and close to the crossing. This location is also a crossing point for students at the nearby Thomas A Becket Junior School.
The scheme upgraded the existing zebra crossing to a puffin signalised crossing. Resurfacing of the road and improvements to footpaths were also completed. Additionally, installation of new street light columns. Relocating street signs to these new columns reduced the amount of street furniture.
The new crossing opened in March 2019.
Friday Street
This new crossing is on Friday Street, by Oak Tree Lane and Shinewater Lane
B2104 Friday Street is a busy route. It connects Hailsham and Stone Cross with the eastern communities of Eastbourne.
The scheme upgraded the existing informal refuge crossing to a puffin signalised crossing. It also included anti-skid surfacing, railings and road markings. A bus stop was also relocated to improve crossing visibility for both users and drivers.
The new crossing opened in June 2020.
- Funding
-
Kings Drive
Total cost of £239,000 - £202,480 from a developer contribution. The remaining £36,500 came from ESCC Integrated Transport Measures (ITM) fund.
Friday Street
Total cost of £257,000 - £80,000 from a developer contribution. The remaining £177,000 came from Eastbourne and South Wealden Walking and Cycling Package Local Growth Fund (LGF).
Eastbourne Town Centre Movement and Access Package – Phase 1
- What was the problem being solved?
-
Enhance the public realm, pedestrian space and bus passenger waiting facilities. Supporting the extension of The Beacon (was the Arndale Centre).
- What was delivered?
-
Phase 1 is focuses on Terminus Road, between Station roundabout and Cornfield Road (often called Bankers Corner). This phase also included works on Cornfield Road and Gildredge Road.
The scheme also supported the extension of The Beacon shopping centre. The extension was towards the railway station end of Terminus Road.
The scheme delivered the following package of improvements:
- Improved public realm with new surface materials, street furniture and soft landscaping.
- Introduction of a one-way bus lane through Terminus Road. From the junction with Ashford Road/Gildredge Road to Bankers Corner.
- Widened footways on Terminus Road.
- Relocation of bus stops from Terminus Road to Cornfield Road and Gildredge Road. All stops have new shelters and real time passenger information.
- Improved pedestrian crossing facilities at the Terminus Road/Gildredge Road/Ashford Road junction.
- Improved taxi rank space at Eastbourne station.
- New cycle parking provision.
The scheme opened in January 2020.
Phase 1 is part of a wider project along the length of Terminus Road from the station to the seafront. All phases will enhance the pedestrian environment along its length. The next phase will affect Terminus Road from Bankers Corner to Langney Road. There is one further planned phase, Seaside to Grand Parade.
- Outcomes
-
- Supported improvements to the vitality and viability of the town centre.
- Improved connectivity between the town centre and other key destinations in Eastbourne. These destinations include the seafront and rail station.
- Enhanced the quality of the public realm, by creating extended space for public use. The scheme is also a setting for activities that support the local town centre economy.
- Improved integration between bus, rail and taxi in the town centre. Improving journey quality and seamless movement through the Terminus Road corridor.
- Supported active travel choices to access the town centre.
- Reduced air pollution and noise resulting from traffic congestion.
- Provided complementary planting and vegetation alongside street furniture creating a high quality environment.
- Reduced vehicle congestion within Terminus Road
- Supported the Beacon development. This development created 24 new shop units and leisure space. It also saw the expansion of existing shops in this section of the town centre.
- Funding
-
Funding for this £9.13m scheme has come from several sources:
- Local Growth Fund - £5m
- Eastbourne Borough Council - £0.45m
- East Sussex County Council - £1.33m
- Parking surplus receipts – £2m
- Development contributions - £0.35m
Flexibus
- What was the problem being solved?
-
Providing a bus service in rural communities with limited or no access to public transport that were difficult (not cost effective) to serve by conventional bus services.
- What was delivered?
-
Digital Demand Responsive Transport (DDRT) services – (called Flexibus in East Sussex) providing transport in rural areas of East Sussex through demand responsive bus services rather than through the provision of ‘conventional’ fixed route and fixed timetable services.
Flexibus launched in May 2023. The service provides people in rural parts of East Sussex with access to a bus service where they may have previously not had access or had access to poor provision.
There have been significant improvements to the operation of the DRT service since it launched. The service initially started with ten zones. After eight months of operation, the number of zones became seven. The most recent change in July 2024, with the introduction of a single zone operation. One zone making it simpler for customers to understand the area that they can book a trip which is within 14 miles of their origin.
- Outcomes
-
- High Value for Money of 3.02 . This means that there is over £3 of social and economic benefits for every £1 spent on Flexibus (using the DfT’s Transport Assessment Guidance).
- Over £10m of wider economic impact (estimated over the period of operation to April 2026).
- Improved Accessibility: 87% of rural residents are now within 30 minutes of the nearest GP surgery by bus. This figure would be 44% without Flexibus.
- Covers over 80% of East Sussex.
- Funding
-
Government: Department for Transport – Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP)
Total BSIP funding award of £41.4m - £3.4m spend across three years on Flexibus.
- Further information
Real time passenger information (RTPI)
- What was the problem being solved?
-
Provision of real time passenger information (RTPI) at bus stops across the county. Screens provide passengers with the length of time until their next bus to provide reassurance to passengers that their bus will turn up and how long they will have to wait for their bus? QR codes will enable access to RTPI via a website.
- What was delivered?
-
Installation of over 160 RTPI screens at stops across the county. Including:
- Bexhill
- Camber
- Crowborough
- Eastbourne
- Five Ash Down
- Forest Row
- Hailsham
- Hartfield
- Hastings
- Heathfield
- Lewes
- Newhaven
- Ore
- Peacehaven
- Pevensey Bay
- Polegate
- Ringmer
- Rye
- Saltdean
- Seaford
- Stone Cross
- Telscombe
- Uckfield
There are also QR codes at all bus stops. Scan these with a smartphone to open a webpage that provides real time information for that stop.
- Funding
-
More than £2 million through developer or third party funding. Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) has funded the QR codes. The BSIP is also funding newer RTPI screens, which are being installed from late 2024 onwards.
- Further information
School Streets Trial 2021
- What was the problem being solved?
-
The School Streets Trial created people friendly spaces outside of schools at the beginning and the end of the school day. The trials looked to
- Improve safety on the route to school
- Reduce congestion on the road outside the school
- Contribute to improving health and wellbeing.
- What was delivered?
-
Six temporary school streets were delivered, with each in place for six weeks between 15 March 2021 and 7 May 2021 (excluding school holidays).
The access in the road directly outside of the school was temporarily restricted to motor vehicles, but open to families who were walking, wheeling or cycling at drop off and pick up times, giving everyone the space, they needed to get to school and to move around their local environment safely.
The trial included two aspects:
- A co-design approach, which involved engaging with school and local communities, near to the school, to create a space that was safer and more enjoyable to move around in
- Restricting of access to vehicles during school drop-off and pick-up times (managed by barriers and stewards).
The schools and streets involved were:
- All Saints CofE Primary School, Sidley – All Saints Lane
- Southover CofE Primary School, Lewes – Potters Lane, The Course
- Langney Primary School, Eastbourne – Redford Close, Chailey Close
- Harbour Primary and Nursery School, Newhaven – Church Hill
- All Saints CofE Junior Academy, Hastings – Githa Road
- Ark Blacklands Primary Academy, Hastings – Osborne Close
The trials were delivered as part of the Governments COVID-19 recovery roadmap to support active travel and social distancing guidance that was being observed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Outcomes
-
- Increase in the number of students using active modes to get to school at some of the schools
- Increase in the number of students parking and striding to school
- Increase in the number of students scooting or skating to school
- Fewer cars using the street outside the school at either end of the school day
- Three of the schools are now trialling permanent School Streets schemes (All Saints CofE Primary School (Sidley), Southover CofE Primary School (Lewes) and Langney Primary School (Eastbourne).
- Funding
-
Emergency Active Travel Fund 2.
- Further information
Uckfield Bus Station Improvement Scheme
- What was the problem being solved?
-
Tired and inadequate passenger waiting facilities.
- What was delivered?
-
The scheme delivered:
- Two new bus shelters with planted roofs and wireless charging
- Enhanced real time bus and train information
- Cycle shelter
- New footway and crossing points
- Improved street lighting
- New loading bay
- Bench
- Planters
The scheme was completed in November 2024.
- Funding
-
Total cost £800,000.
Funded by:
- Development contributions
- East Sussex County Council
- Bus Service Improvement Plan