Street resurfacing got underway on the evening of Tuesday, May 24, with contractors’ equipment working till well past midnight. By Wednesday morning, the job appeared more than half completed, with new tarmacadam laid from the Landgate arch to the start of the paved area near the bottom of Lion Street
For hard worn areas such as the turn into East Street, scraping equipment was deployed to remove several inches of the top surface before re-laying with tarmac. This was the noisiest part of the operation and must have disturbed residents’ slumbers, if they could have got to sleep at all.
A stroll early on Wednesday morning showed what a fine job appeared to have been done in so short a time, by FM Conway Ltd, contractors to East Sussex County Council and based at Sevenoaks, Kent. There is still much left undone, between the George and the top of Market Road and beyond, but some damaged areas may be missed out. It remains to be seen whether Lion Street will receive the attention it needs.
With road traffic the principal beneficiary, pedestrians’ safety has not been addressed, for the pavements remain in hazardous state with trip points every few yards. The number of falls recorded of elderly people in the street during the last twelve months must have reached double figures. This has led to many residents expressing a lack of confidence in negotiating the pavements.
However, the elimination of many potholes in the High Street must be welcomed. Even more welcome to some residents I have spoken to would be the pedestrianisation of the High Street, allowing safer passage than presently available.
Image Credits: Kenneth Bird .
Of all the improvements that should be done in Rye we now have our 1215 century, unique town stripped of its beauty and charm and looking like every other identical town in Uk.
Now, even the LANDGATE looks incongruous, like a fish out of water in this sea of tarmac.
When were the town people consulted about this? Who said we wanted tarmac?
Pot holes were mentioned. Tarmac is good at that. You will wish the tiled road was still there when the pot holes appear!
A huge waste of money and entirely wrong and out of place.
Can I ask why this work couldn’t have been carried out at a more appropriate time? The council do forget that the High Street in Rye is also heavily residential. I don’t think the writer of this article would be praising the workmen in such a way had he witnessed the noise, disruption and also rudeness of the workmen concerned.
We live right in the middle of the High Street and having lived through the past 48 hours, I’m appalled that the council could have let such work happen after a cut off point. The work, noise, drilling didn’t actually finish till gone 3am in the morning and when confronted by the workmen showing the email from the council promising all noisy work to be finished by 11pm, they were either rude or replied not our problem mate.
Is this acceptable in a residential area? Would also point out how such machinery is acceptable to be used, when most of the housing in the Citadel is grade 2 listed.
Absolutely shocking behaviour by the council to even allow this.
Picked up some fish Wednesday and was surprised to see the new topping. Actually surprised wasn’t quite the way I felt.
Was that really the best that could be done? I suppose once the double yellow lines have been painted, in a fetching bright yellow, and various other lines and signs appear it will look a picture in the ancient town. It all adds to the historic feel.
Yes, the roads been a disgrace for years now. But really! This will take a while to get used to.