Dear Editor
I have been reading the various suggestions for improvements to the Seven Dials junction and Brighton station with great interest. In the long term, the only solution to traffic congestion is to build an underground railway, such as that which exists in London. I am aware that in the current economic climate, this is about as likely as me winning the national lottery. In the meantime, the powers-that-be have to consider affordable measures. My suggestion for the rail station is to re-develop the existing multi-storey car park to the north east of the station and to turn this into a taxi and bus hub. There could be warm waiting rooms for passengers. All bus routes to the east and north-east of the area would start from this hub. The outside of the building could be designed with the main bus station in Nice, France as a template, i.e. covered with vegetation and flowers in the summer!
The existing park-and-ride system, the number 27 bus, is woefully inadequate. Recently I had to wait 26 minutes for a No. 27 from Withdean between 3pm and 4pm. The service should be every 10 minutes at least, and the price for two adults and a child should be LESS than the cost of parking at one of the car parks in the centre of the town. The car park at the Amex could also be used for park and ride during days when the stadium is not used for events / matches.
The rails at Seven Dials junction are essential as youngsters tend to dash across against the lights. There was a suggestion for a large sculpture in the centre island and this might improve the woeful aspect of the present roundabout.
One of the great planning mistakes was to allow giant supermarkets in Brighton to have large free car parks. This encourages car journeys which would not be necessary if people used their local shops. Shoppers from rural Sussex are welcome but must be encouraged to use convenient park and ride schemes or use bus / train to get to the centre. it would be very nice to have a couple of CAR-FREE SUNDAYS in the city. Various towns around the world do this and it shows what cities could be like without the noise and pollution caused by traffic.
Jim Birkett, Powis Square
westhillwhistler.com 
Re:Seven Dials development;
I’ve seen many changes in the West Hill area, but to remove the Safety Railings around the Seven Dials, in my opinion would be idiotic. I understand from the consultation doc’ that they don’t statistically improve the safety of pedestrians according to the Government. Well I’m writing this to say that I know of two different occasions where cars were stopped from mounting the pavement by the barriers where people were walking. Just because it’s not statistically relevant does not mean it’s not worth having, it just means the numbers are not massively high which makes statistical analysis difficult. You would still have to cross on the crossings anyway, if they were kept or risk being mowed down, so having them wont make any difference to how far you have to walk. They don’t cost a thing after installation, (except when they are damaged saving lives) they stop children from dashing out in to the road (along with Dogs) and surely a single life saved makes it worth keeping them. They are a low cost best case scenario for if-and-when one of the cars in the top 5 accident black spots in Brighton (Council Stats) does inevitably have an accident and instead of mounting the pavement, only bends the barriers and is safely stopped.
I hope this may have helped make up a few minds when thinking about the proposed changes.