Western Road will be rebuilt between Holland Road and Montpelier Road from 28 September: about 45 days of phased closures on a 700-bus-a-day route.

Western Road is to be dug up and rebuilt this autumn, with phased closures starting on Monday 28 September and lasting about 45 days. The work covers the section between Holland Road and Montpelier Road, and the council says around 700 buses a day use the corridor (Brighton & Hove City Council, 18 August 2026).

This is more than a resurfacing job. The council says an assessment found structural problems that a new top layer would not fix. So the programme starts with deeper excavation, reconstruction of damaged sections and drainage repairs.

Councillor Trevor Muten, cabinet member for transport and city infrastructure, said in the announcement: “Residents have been asking us to sort out Western Road for a long time. We are listening and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” On the timing, he said: “We don’t want to leave this any longer. It has to be done before the temperature drops.”

What is being done

The council lists the following in the programme:

  • deeper excavation and reconstruction of damaged sections of the road
  • drainage repairs
  • resurfacing
  • improvements to essential road infrastructure

The stated aim is a surface that lasts longer and needs less patching in future.

The dates that matter

Timeline: 18 August 2026 the council announces the scheme; 17 September 2026 Cabinet meets at Hove Town Hall to decide the Red Route; 28 September 2026 phased closures begin on Western Road between Holland Road and Montpelier Road, lasting about 45 days
Graphic by The Brighton Times
  • Monday 28 September: work starts, subject to final approvals
  • About 45 days: the council’s stated duration, using phased road closures
  • Thursday 17 September: the only Cabinet meeting scheduled in September, at 10.30am in the Council Chamber at Hove Town Hall, where the associated Red Route proposal is due to be decided (council meeting page)

The council has not published the phasing, the closure points or an end date. It says detailed plans are still being developed, and that information on traffic management, bus diversions, deliveries and access arrangements “will be shared with residents and businesses before work starts”. Pedestrian access will be kept open “wherever it is safe and practical to do so”.

We will update this page and our Brighton roadworks and travel page when the phasing is published.

The Red Route proposal

Alongside the reconstruction, the council wants to mark the same stretch, Holland Road to Montpelier Road, as a Red Route. If Cabinet approves it in September, the change would be made while the road is already dug up.

What that would mean in practice:

  • double yellow lines become double red lines, enforced by CCTV rather than by a civil enforcement officer happening to be there
  • 10 new loading bays, providing 140 metres of loading space
  • additional disabled parking bays on Western Road and on nearby streets
  • the scheme would run under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order, which allows the council to adjust it during the first 12 months

The cabinet report follows a public consultation held last year that drew more than a thousand responses from residents and businesses, with a majority in favour of the Red Route. Councillor Muten said the measure will improve safety and bus times and keep traffic moving.

A red route is stricter than a double yellow. The Highway Code is blunt about it. You must not stop or park on red lines “unless otherwise indicated by signs”. On red routes it is the “specially marked and signed bays” that show where and when loading and unloading is allowed (Highway Code, rules 240 and 247). That is what the 10 new bays are for, and it is the detail most likely to catch out anyone who currently pulls up briefly outside a shop on that stretch.

What it means for you

  • If you travel by bus between Hove and the city centre, expect diversions from late September. The council has not yet said which services go where. Check Brighton & Hove Buses’ own service updates before you travel once the work starts.
  • If you drive through Western Road, plan for closures rather than lane restrictions. The council’s own word is “phased road closures”, not contraflows.
  • If you run a business on that stretch, the loading arrangements are the thing to look at now, while the Red Route is still a proposal. The Cabinet meeting is on 17 September and the agenda is normally published in the week before.
  • If you need to park nearby, our parking in Brighton page covers the zones, tariffs and permit rules around the city centre.

There is a separate consultation running in parallel that also closes at the end of September. The council is asking for views on enforcement cameras at five junctions where existing restrictions are widely ignored, including London Road onto New England Road and Ditchling Road onto Baker Street. Breaching one would bring a £70 penalty charge, halved to £35 if paid within 21 days, after a six-month warning period. That consultation runs until 28 September (Your Voice, Brighton & Hove).

Sources