A259 road

{{Infobox road/name/|province=¬|state=United Kingdom|type=A road (Primary Route)|subtype=|route=Emsworth to Folkestone|county=}}
Maintained by Highways Agency
West end	Emsworth, Hampshire
Major intersections	M20 A20 A21 A22 A23 A24 A26 A27 A29 A261 A268 A269 A280 A283 A284 A289 A2010 A2021 A2023 A2025 A2032 A2033 A2036 A2070 A2101 A2102 A2270 A2290
East end	Folkestone
Counties	Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent
Major cities	Bexhill-on-Sea Brighton Bognor Regis Chichester Eastbourne Folkestone Hastings Worthing Rye Shoreham-by-Sea
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[[Category:Infobox road temporary tracking category 1|$ A259 road]]

The A259 is a major road in England, running along the south coast, with part of the A259 running almost parallel to the A27 road. The A259 runs east from Emsworth in Hampshire, into West Sussex via Chichester, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Ferring, Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Portslade And East Sussex via Brighton, Hove, Peacehaven, Newhaven, Seaford, Eastbourne, Pevensey, Bexhill, Hastings and Rye. Over the border in Kent, it continues through New Romney and Hythe to terminate at Folkestone.

A view along the A259 just outside Brookland

Between Pevensey and Brenzett (where the A259 meets the A2070), the A259 becomes a section of the South Coast Trunk Road. Unusually for a trunk road, the A259 is almost entirely single-carriageway, with only a 1 km stretch of urban dual carriageway in Bexhill. Bypasses have been proposed for virtually all of the settlements on the trunk and former trunk sections, but all have been shelved.

Part of the road in Hastings forms part of the Ring road.

Of note is that the road passes through the town of Winchelsea, England's first new town.

The section between Brenzett and Folkestone was de-trunked in 2003 (i.e. removed trunk road status), and thus reverted to the control of Kent County Council. The A2070 now takes over the South Coast Trunk Road for its final section to the M20 motorway from Brenzett to Hamstreet and Ashford, Kent.

Landmarks on the route

• Butlins South Coast World in Bognor Regis
• Shoreham Power Station
• West Pier in Brighton
• Telscombe Cliffs near Peacehaven and Saltdean
• Cuckmere Haven between Seaford & Eastbourne

Proposed Improvements

File:A259Eastbourne.jpg

A view along the A259 Urban Dual Carriageway section at Eastbourne

The A259 east of Pevensey is a twisty single carriageway with few dualled stretches. Bexhill and Hastings are both major bottlenecks on the route. Plans to bypass every settlement on the route have been shelved. The A259 east of Hastings has been named the 'Worst Trunk Road' and the 2nd most dangerous road in the south east . .

East of Hastings these bypasses have been proposed:

• Guestling and Icklesham bypass
• Winchelsea bypass
• Rye bypass
• Ham Street bypass
• A259 New Romney bypass
• A259 St. Mary's Bay and Dymchurch bypass

Although these have all been shelved, improvements have still been proposed.

Hastings and Bexhill bypass

The most controversial of these was the Hastings/Bexhill bypass which would be a dualled bypass costing £120-£130 million. From Pevensey roundabout, the section of A259 between there and Bexhill would be brought up to a dual 2 lane dual carriageway, Later on the road would head to the north of Bexhill and Hastings to join the current A259 near Icklesham. The bypass has been rejected which has delighted conservationists but angered many residents

Bexhill to Hastings link road

The Bexhill to Hastings link road will form a 5km long road from its junction with the A259 in Bexhill to a junction with the B2092 Queensway in Hastings. which would "damage the beautiful and tranquil Combe Haven Valley and lead to infill development" The road will be single carriageway which has received complaints.

Road Safety

In June 2008, a 19km stretch of the A259 between Hastings and Eastbourne was named as the most dangerous road in the South East of England. This single carriageway stretch had 47 fatal and serious injury collisions between 2004 and 2006, and was rated as Red -- the second highest risk band -- in the EuroRAP report publish by the Road Safety Foundation.

External links

• A259 Folkestone-Havant — From SABRE's "Roads By 10".
• Hastings Alliance Opposition to the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road
• EuroRAP GB Tracking Survey Results 2008
• Road Safety Foundation