In this newsletter you'll read about the West Sussex Draft Local Flood Risk Management Strategy Consultation, the Draft Transport Strategy for South East, scheme updates and much more!

West Sussex Draft Local Flood Risk Management Strategy Consultation (2025-2030)

As the Lead Local Flood Authority, the County Council must develop, maintain, apply, and monitor a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.

The strategy guides how we work with stakeholders to manage flood risk in West Sussex.

Following the data collection survey in Autumn 2024, we have drafted a new Strategy and we’d like you to share your thoughts on our proposed measures and actions for the next five years.

The survey will take around five minutes to complete and the results will be used when preparing the final Strategy for adoption.

Have Your Say on the Draft Transport Strategy for the South East

The new strategy identifies five missions that will address the key challenges our region faces over the next 25 years:

• Improving strategic connectivity between major urban areas and with international gateways (airports, ports and the Channel Tunnel).
• Improving the resilience of the transport network, so that it offers reliable journeys and can respond to current and future operational risks such as weather events.
• Tackling the inclusion and integration challenges facing communities, such as transport-related social exclusion and providing a joined-up transport network.
• Decarbonising the surface transport network, which is essential if we are to meet our climate change goals.
• Achieving sustainable growth through planned housing and employment growth, enabled by sustainable transport.

TfSE is inviting residents of the south east, organisations and interest groups tosubmit their thoughts on the refreshed strategy until 7^th March 2025.

What is the TfSE?

TfSE is one of England’s eight sub-national transport bodies that partner with local transport authorities, protected landscapes and other national delivery agencies. Speaking with one voice on regional priorities, the TfSE can make a strong case to government to improve regional transport and drive economic growth.

New Contractors

West Sussex County Council are pleased to announce that we have awarded two new highways maintenance contracts that will commence on 1 April 2025. FM Conway will deliver drainage cleansing and VolkerHighways will be responsible for the Core Maintenance contract, which includes reactive service delivery and other maintenance activities. Over the coming months, our teams will be working hard to ensure a smooth transition to the new contracts. For more information please visitWest Sussex County Council awards highways maintenance contracts - West Sussex County Council and we will bring you more information in the next edition of this newsletter.

Commute Zero Hero Awards 2025 Winner

WSCC's Active Travel team are winners of Mobilityways Commute Zero Hero 2025 Active Travel Champion Award!

The Commute Zero Hero Awards honour organisations and individuals driving innovative commuting solutions that reduce carbon emissions and foster a culture of sustainability.  

West Sussex County Council has been recognised for its Active Travel Strategy prioritising school journeys.

“WSCC is committed to making sustainable travel journeys a safer, more convenient and more accessible option for our residents and visitors alike. A cornerstone of this commitment is our approach to Active Travel and we were proud to be awarded Level 1 Capability status by Active Travel England last autumn. The award allows us to continue building on the progress made in recent years by bidding for funding to deliver on our ambition.

A key focus for WSCC is building the habit of travelling actively from a young age. Our Active Travel to School programme involves providing site-specific improvements, such as new or upgraded crossing points, widened footways, segregated cycle tracks and behavioural change interventions to enable children and their parents to travel actively for the school run. We have also introduced School Streets at a small number of locations as part of a pilot programme which aims to reduce traffic and make the space outside the school gate safer. By restricting traffic on roads outside schools during drop-off and pick-up times, these areas become pedestrian and cycle priority zones. Although not all locations are suitable for a School Street we are committed to delivering more of them in future.

Active Travel is much more than just an investment in new pavements, crossings and cycle paths. It’s about providing our residents with the ability to choose to walk, wheel or cycle instead of using their cars for journeys to school, work and many more destinations.”

 - Cllr Joy Dennis, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport

Scheme Updates

Refurbishment of signalised crossing in Worthing with latest technology

As part of the Halogen Bulb Replacement Programme, the signals equipment at Teville Road in Worthing were obsolete and has been replaced with the latest technology, including energy- efficient LED signal heads which offer improved visibility to motorists. Updated pedestrian markings, vehicle stop lines, tactile paving, improved pedestrian and vehicle detection, along with new signal poles have also been installed, making the crossing more reactive to user requirements. The controller pillar has been relocated out of the centre island; this will reduce the impact that any maintenance activity has on the public. 

Improvements to the Lancing Coastal Cycle Path for Active Travel

West Sussex County Council, in partnership with Lancing Parish Council, is working to improve the existing shared use path that borders Lancing Beach Green. The works to construct a new 3-metre-wide cycle path, which will separate cyclists and pedestrians along a section of the route, are scheduled to be undertaken between 3 March and 6 May 2025. The extent of the works run from the band stand 330 metres west to Lancing Beach Green Playground. The new cycle path will improve safety, continuity and usability by separating cyclists and pedestrians outside the busy Perch café area. Access will be maintained at all times during construction with slight delays foreseen between the 27 – 28 March 2025 when the Beach Green Access Road will be resurfaced. A banksman will be stationed on the access road and will be able to  provide access to drivers.

The construction phase plan can be found along with the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) at Lancing Beach Green Active Travel Improvements | Your Voice West Sussex which outlines how the work will be done in phases to minimise the impact and disruption to nearby businesses.

Road safety improvements in Bognor Regis

WSCC will soon begin improvements to the shared cycleway around Orchard Way Roundabout and its connection points. The project is scheduled to take place between 24 February to 28 March 2025. This scheme originates from concerns raised following cycle collisions. Works include resurfacing, vegetation clearance, tree crown lifting and upgrading the traffic island tactile amendments and signage. These improvements will benefit pedestrians and cyclists using the roundabout. 

There will be a One-Way Road Closure from 24 Feb 2025 for 5 days coming from the roundabout into Orchard Way – extending to Tilberg Close. Exiting from Orchard Way onto the roundabout will be unaffected. A diversion route will be in place on Orchard Way, Chichester Road and the A29. Further details can be found onone.network.

Active Travel improvements on Upper Shoreham Road, Shoreham

On 3 March, 2025, WSCC will begin construction of the Upper Shoreham Active Travel Scheme. These works are to take place across two phases, with the first phase scheduled to be complete within 7 weeks.

The purpose of this scheme is to deliver improvements to cycling and pedestrian connectivity on Upper Shoreham Road, Buckingham Road and Middle Road, Shoreham-by-Sea. The works take place after extensive public consultation, carried out in June 2024.

The first phase of the scheme will include installation of a parallel crossing on Upper Shoreham Road near the junctions with The Drive and Buckingham Road. It also includes a segregated cycle path on the northbound spur at the junction of Buckingham Road and Upper Shoreham Road, and cycle "by-passes" in the buildouts on Middle Road.

Phase 2 will focus on improving pedestrian crossings and creating a shared cycle/pedestrian footway on the approach to Buckingham Primary School. This phase is scheduled to be carried out in the school summer holidays of 2025.

West Sussex County Council will work to minimise disruption during construction. Follow Upper Shoreham Active Travel Improvements webpage for updates on the scheme. 

Drainage Works in Hassocks

WSCC will be undertaking phase 2 of a two-phase drainage scheme on Clayton Hill, between New Road and Mill Lane, Hassocks. The works will upgrade and repair existing drainage assets and improve drainage capacity with the introduction of additional assets. The work will be done 24 hours a day, from March 3 to March 28, 2025, to minimize traffic disruption and enable faster completion. All work will be under 24/7 multi-phase traffic signals for the whole duration of the works, with a temporary lower speed limit to ensure a safe environment for the work force and the public using the network. Local access to properties, businesses and emergency services will be maintained at all times during the works.

Please note that these works are weather dependant and may be cancelled at short notice, but we will endeavour to inform you should there be significant changes to the programme.

Update on Road Safety Programme

Each year, the Road Safety Group analyse the collision data provided by Sussex Police to identify areas where collisions are occurring in clusters across West Sussex. We are specifically looking for sites with an elevated risk of serious injury.

Identified sites are carefully studied to understand where there is a clear pattern of behaviour that could be addressed. We also study other data sources to understand driver speeds and braking patterns.

The selected sites are prioritised and programmed for design and delivery. Last year, ten safety schemes were implemented, and a further three schemes are due to be built by the end of March 2025, including:

• A23/A2011 Tushmore Roundabout, Crawley - installation of new road signage and reconfiguration/refreshment of carriageway line markings.
• B2036 London Road/Victoria Way, Burgess Hill – the second phase of a scheme to improve turning movements at the mini-roundabout, following resurfacing work carried out last year.

Four further safety schemes are currently in development and planned for construction within the next 12 months. These include:

• A259 Cathedral Way, Chichester
• A24/A283 Washington Roundabout
• A281/B2117 Poynings Crossways
• Hanlye Lane, Cuckfield

We will soon be starting our next round of cluster site and route analysis. Please watch this space for further updates on upcoming safety schemes in your area.

Bikeability Team Update

Bikeability cycle training in schools resumed following the Christmas break. The winter months are challenging and yet our instructors turn up ready to instruct with smiles on their faces in the wind, rain, and cold. Instructors are required to dynamically risk assess all situations, including the weather conditions, to ensure that it is OK to proceed with training. In most conditions we can proceed and use the conditions to help inform riders of how weather can affect the way we ride. On the rare occasions sessions are cancelled or cut short, our instructors work with schools and our admin team to work out how we can ensure the riders do not miss out.

Five new trainee instructors passed their final post-course assessment in January and are now fully qualified. They have been supported through their shadowing / practising period by our instructing team, to whom we are really grateful for welcoming, observing & supporting the new instructors.

Also this month, the Bikeability Instructing Team attended their in-person safeguarding training. This training is tailored to the WSCC Bikeability instructor role and is required because of their work with children.

Business As Usual with Cyclical and Jetting Operations

As the winter period is well under way with rain and icy conditions, the service to maintain WSCC drainage under the cyclical gully cleansing programme and priority focussed ad-hoc jetting works is still in full swing and has had minimal disruption from the recent weather events.

During January and February this year we will have routinely cleansed over 12,000 gully assets across the county. In addition, we will have completed over 130 ‘ad hoc’ jetting jobs, tackling identified problem areas and completed around 40 detailed CCTV investigations.

Please continue to raise any drainage/flooding issues you see on the network that are still visible 2hrs after rainfall to help keep the network open.

Electric Vehicle (Phase 3) Public Consultations Update

The results of recent public consultations held for new proposed chargepoint sites across the county have been published and are available here: 2024/2025 Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Installation Consultation | Your Voice West Sussex

Network Management Plan Now Published

During October 2024, we consulted with key stakeholders on the development of West Sussex County Council's Highway Network Management Plan (HNMP).  

Feedback from the consultation was considered in updating the draft Plan and was reported to the Council’ s Communities, Highways and Environment Scrutiny Committee (CHESC) on 25 November 2024.  

The Plan has now been agreed and published on the Council’s website.  

The HNMP has been developed to set out the way in which the Council fulfils its duty in the Traffic Management Act (2004) to secure ‘expeditious movement of traffic on the authority's road network’. Levels of demand on the network have been exceptional in the last few years – and will remain high and complex in response to housing and economic development and infrastructure maintenance and improvement. The Plan covers the approach taken to all aspects of highway network management in West Sussex, including the way the Highway Authority manages works and events on our network to minimise disruption.  

The Plan signals the Council’s commitment to develop proactive management of the highway network, including:  

• Stronger partnership working and co-ordinated forward planning of all works  

• Clear approaches to the co-ordination of conflicting demands for use of the network 

• Improved communication of planned works 

• New ways of managing the impacts on local communities 

• Protecting the highway asset through greater compliance activity 

• Data analysis/forecasting, and developing the use of technology for management and monitoring. 

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Updates on emergency reports are posted every day. Just search@wshighways.bsky.social if you aren't already following.

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Updates on emergency reports are posted every day and project updates are posted frequently on the West Sussex Highways X account (formerly Twitter). Just search @WSHighways if you aren't already following.

Produced by the Stakeholder and Partnerships Officer, Highways Transport and Planning. Please contact active.communities@westsussex.gov.uk with any comments or suggestions.