Bognor High Street improvements start this month

The £600,000 scheme is the latest project to make the High Street more attractive and pedestrian friendly.

The road will look like a pavement to slow traffic and make it safer for shoppers.

Access to the High Street will be restricted to buses only from 11am-4.30pm. Deliveries will be allowed outside these times.The work by West Sussex County Council will start next Monday and is expected to last for three months.

Cllr John O’Brien, the council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The local community identified the High Street as an area it wanted to see improved.

“This scheme will make the High Street more pedestrian friendly and improve the links between the town and the seafront.”

The improvements will include:

* narrowing the road and replacing the surface with high-quality block paving;

* widening and repairing existing pavements;

* installing a raised junction so the road is the same height as the London Road precinct;

* stylish new seating, modern bins and stainless steel cycle stands;

* new bus shelters and replacement trees; and

* new signs banning all vehicles except buses and delivery vehicles, outside core shopping times.

The county council is funding the project, together with Arun District Council, using the coastal communities fund awarded to improve the public areas in the town centre. Work installing the improvements will take place during daylight hours between Mondays and Saturdays.

The High Street will be closed to all traffic, including buses, between Sussex Street and York Road so the contractors for West Sussex County Council can get on with their job in safety.

A diversion route for buses and delivery vehicles will be in place via Clarence Road, Belmont Street and York Road.

Bus stops will be moved to Belmont Street. Signs will help passengers to find their stop and notices on buses to inform them of the changes.

Arun’s leader and cabinet member for economic regeneration, Cllr Gillian Brown, said: “These latest improvements are another piece in the jigsaw of the wider regeneration of the town, which will benefit both high street businesses and visiting shoppers.”

Changes to the High Street were suggested in the mid-1990s and were finally opened in 2004. But they proved controversial because of motorists ignoring the ban.

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