Lewes Lib Dems call for change at A26 Newhaven junction

The fatal accident happened at the junction between the A26 and the B2109 Avis Road near Newhaven – and just over 24 hours later there was another collision there.

Two vehicles crashed at about 6.30pm yesterday and the road was blocked as emergency services went to the scene.

It was the latest in a string of accidents at the site.

Just last month a motorcyclist and their passenger were badly injured in a crash with a car at the same spot.

And in 2014, Peter Knight was killed at the junction when he was hit by a lorry.

The 35-year-old from Denton had been crossing the road near Paradise Park garden centre when the collision happened.

As the number of serious crashes at the turning grows, Lewes Lib Dems say the issue “can’t go ignored any longer”.

The group is responsible for the Newhaven Safer Roads Campaign which demands urgent action to make the area safer.

It asks Highways England to “recognise that the junction of the A26 and the B2109 Avis Road is dangerous to road users and has resulted in a number of avoidable killed or severely injured incidents as well as many avoidable non-serious road traffic collisions”.

The campaign’s message was reinforced by Wednesday’s tragedy, which meant part of the A26 was closed for more than six hours as police, ambulance and air ambulance crews attended the scene.

Councillor Sean Macleod of the Lewes Lib Dems, who sits in the Ouse Valley and Ringmer ward, said: “We are calling on A1+ and Highways England to do a safety review at this junction. In the last two weeks there have been three significant collisions resulting in three air ambulances needing to land.

“Two people where seriously injured and, in this latest incident sadly someone has lost their life.

“I’ve been living here for eight years now and a number of accidents have resulted in people losing their lives or being seriously injured, plus there have been a high number of small shunts at this location.

“So we ask that the relevant authorities take the right steps and do a safety review. A total of 300 residents have now signed our petition and there are others set up by local residents calling for changes. It just can’t go ignored any longer.”

Following the review, Lewes Lib Dems hope Highways England will “implement, as soon as practicable, traffic safety measures such as traffic lights, speed cameras or a roundabout, to save lives, protect the public and reduce demand on our over-stretched emergency services”.

East Sussex County Councillor Darren Grover said: “I have witnessed first hand dozens of collisions at this junction, as well as overturned HGVs. Too many people have died and for too long, the county council and highways have shirked their responsibility to protect the public.”

A Highways England spokesman said: "Every death and every serious injury on the roads is one too many, and our sympathies go to the families of those concerned.

"Safety is our top priority and we keep safety on this section of the A26 constantly under review.

"We have a challenging target, reducing the numbers of those killed and those seriously injured, with the ultimate vision of a future where no-one is killed on England’s roads, and the injury rate is much reduced.

"We will await the details of the latest collision but in the meantime we continue to work with our partners to see what safety based maintenance and improvements such as vegetation management and road markings around the A26 Avis Road junction can be made in the coming months."