RUSH-HOUR drivers coming into Brighton town centre today are likely to face bumper to bumper queues as they come to terms with the latest traffic changes.

Contractors working on the new traffic management scheme have put in a series of diversions while the jam-busting scheme is in progress. An Argus test-run of the new route, which allows only buses and taxis to use southbound London Road, found town centre roads flowing freely. But snail-paced traffic crept slowly on the approach to the roadworks. Traffic heading into town via Preston Road has been diverted along Viaduct Road at Preston Circus, and down Ditchling Road, as part of a scheme aimed at making London Road better for shoppers. Here is what we found just hours after the latest changes were put in place yesterday: 1.45pm - heading down Preston Road, we hit a queue at the bottom of Stanford Road. 1.50pm - being overtaken by pedestrians, we crawl slowly under the viaduct. 1.58pm - we reach the end of Viaduct Road, and turn into free-flowing Ditchling Road. It had taken 13 minutes to cover half-a-mile in Sunday traffic at an average 2.3mph. The journey out of town could not have been easier. We sailed up London Road and Preston Road without a hitch, catching all green lights as a bonus. Westbound traffic on Viaduct Road has been diverted south along Ditchling Road and St Peter's Place.

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