‘Revamped Three Bridges railway station forecourt needs to include right-turn exit’

Ever since ideas for the £3.1m revamp of the station front were announced, there have been concerns the current right-turn on to Haslett Avenue East was to be dropped.

Without it, anyone leaving the station would face a 1.5-mile round trip to the Paymaster General roundabout and back if they wanted to get to Maidenbower, Pound Hill and the like.

At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday night, members received a petition signed by more than 1,000 people calling for another consultation into the plans, while Conservative councillor Kevan McCarthy tabled a notice of motion asking for right-turn options to be looked at again.

There’s no doubt the station forecourt is in need of a lot of work.

Mr McCarthy referred to it as a ‘dog’s dinner’, summing up the ongoing problems with: “You’re mixing pedestrians, cyclists, cars, buses and taxis in the same space. The current layout is a recipe for disaster – an accident waiting to happen.”

But he said he felt the engagement with residents over the improvement plans had been ‘lacking’ and the desire to get the project done as soon as possible meant ‘other considerations have taken a back seat’.

Petitioner Janet Seymour told members the right-turn was ‘essential’, pointing out that driving to the roundabout and back would mean more fuel being used, more emissions and more expensive journeys for those using taxis.

While it was agreed officers would be asked to look again at the scheme, leader Peter Lamb and Peter Smith, cabinet member for planning and economic development, reminded people that, while Crawley was running the project, only the county council could sign off on highways matters.

Mr Smith told the meeting that an average 8,000 people used Three Bridges station every day, with ‘a very small percentage’ turning right when leaving.

Of the 2,750 seen using it during peak morning hours, only 69 turned right, while during peak evening hours 128 out of 3,000 drivers turned right.

He added: “If we could have found a right-turn option that would work, believe me we would have done it.

“We have looked at something like 12 different permeations and they do not work. No option has been found that will support a right-turn.”

Looking at the cost of the scheme, Mr Lamb told members the grant money and development contributions lined up to be used would have to be returned if the improvements did not go ahead.

He added: “As it stands there is no alternative scheme.

“The only thing we can do is to go back to West Sussex and say look again – see what you can do – are your highways engineers confident that this is literally the only way in their professional expertise that this can be done?”