Controversial Changes Approved For Crawley's Three Bridges Station

Major changes around Three Bridges station have been approved by Crawley Borough Council – but not everyone was happy.

The changes, which included removing the right-turn out of the station, remodelling the forecourt, and adding a new access for pedestrians and cyclists on Station Hill, were given the nod by the planning committee on Tuesday (March 7).

While it was agreed all round that improvements needed to be made, huge concerns were raised about how the removal of the right-turn on to Haslett Avenue East would impact traffic congestion, air quality and the economic future of the taxi drivers who work out of the station’s rank.

Derek Kearnan, vice-chairman of the Crawley Hackney Carriage Association, said it would ‘severely impact our badly affected trade’.

He added that people heading for Maidenbower and Pound Hill would ‘think twice’ about taking a taxi if it meant having to travel to the Paymaster General squareabout and back just to start heading in the right direction.

Such a ‘scenic diversion’ could see the meter reach at least £5 before the taxi even passed the station again.

His fear was borne out later in the meeting when Kim Jaggard (Con, Maidenbower) said she wouldn’t be taking a taxi from the rank and predicted that people would call an Uber or private hire cab rather than foot the extra cost.

The issues of air quality and congestion were top of the list of concerns for both the removal of the right-turn and the decision to reduce the traffic lanes under the railway bridge from three to two approaching the station.

While the latter was planned to widen the extremely narrow footpath into a shared footpath/cycleway, few seemed convinced that it would not lead to a bottleneck coming out of Maidenbower, especially during rush hours.

There were further worries that people unable to turn right would drive to the Tesco roundabout and cut through St Mary’s Drive to get to their destination.

A report from planning officers said model runs had been carried out doing exactly that to assess the impact.

Mrs Jaggard said:

“In my opinion, the application falls on the lack of thought given by West Sussex Highways to residents’ wishes.

“It increases the pollution on Haslett Avenue, Worth Park Avenue, Billinton Drive – and it’s a mad idea to suggest that vehicles go into residential roads.

“In some cities, they are preventing vehicles from entering residential streets. We seem to be encouraging car users off the main road into the residential roads.

“It makes no sense to me.”

Another issue which made no sense to many was the decision to not include a pick-up/drop-off point at the new Station Hill entrance.

The improvement plans have been in the pipeline for a number of years, being worked on with the county council’s Major Project team.

The work will see an upgraded ‘bus hub’ built at the existing westbound stop, incorporating a large shelter with Wi-Fi, charging points and enhanced information
screens.

The hub will cater for all buses, including the Fastway number 20.

It was pointed out, though, that the 20 heads away from the station coming out of Hazelwick Avenue so would have to double back on itself to make use of the hub.

While several councillors feared the air quality around the station would get worse, Brenda Burgess (Con, Three Bridges) had a counter view.

Speaking in favour of the plans, she mentioned the high number of children in the area who suffered with asthma.

Mrs Burgess said: “That area is very polluted. If we can reduce just by one line of traffic it will improve the air quality in that area.”

Predicting that the traffic would ‘keep flowing’ once the right-turn and traffic lights had been removed, she added:

“I just feel that this is an opportunity to improve that area – not only for the traffic, not only for the site and the visitors but for our children.

“Reduce that pollution for our children and make it a much safer area air quality wise, as well as improving the look of that area and making it a welcoming site – making that station the creme de la creme of Crawley.”