Western Road will not reopen this weekend. The council says a red route protest on Thursday held up the last work, and it now expects the road open by Wednesday.

Western Road will stay closed into next week. Brighton & Hove City Council had planned to reopen it this weekend, after reconstruction work between Holland Road and Montpelier Road that began on 28 September.

Updated 11 November: Western Road has reopened. Brighton & Hove Buses says all its services on the road returned to their normal routes from Tuesday 10 November, serving all the usual stops, including Norfolk Square and Brunswick Place (service updates).

The council now says it expects to begin reopening the road on Tuesday 10 November, with the road fully open on Wednesday 11 November. That is subject to the remaining work being finished. Current diversions and closures stay in place until then.

The council blames a protest. Its update on Friday 6 November says “a protest about the red route on Thursday evening prevented the final completion of work and delayed the reopening of the road.”

The council has not said how many people took part, what happened on site or what work was left undone. It says only that the remaining work will take place “as soon as possible” and that staff doing it are safe.

What the council said

Council leader Bella Sankey said: “It’s unfortunate and disappointing that the actions of a tiny minority have disrupted the final stages of this necessary work and caused further unnecessary disruption for thousands of residents, businesses and everyone who relies on the road.”

She thanked the council staff and contractors, calling them “the unsung heroes of our city”.

The council says the reconstruction itself was completed on schedule. It describes Western Road as used every day by thousands of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, and by around 700 buses between Hove and the city centre.

The red route

The protest was about the red route that follows the rebuild. A red route means no stopping or waiting at any time, except in marked bays. It covers Western Road between Holland Road and Montpelier Road, with new loading and disabled parking bays.

It is being brought in under an experimental traffic order, TRO-21-2026. That means people can comment while it runs, and changes can be considered for six months after it starts. The council’s notice gave a start date of Monday 9 November and takes comments until Sunday 9 May 2027.

The 6 November update says the red route will be introduced “following the resurfacing”. It does not say whether the 9 November start still stands.

Updated 10 November: Brighton & Hove Buses now lists its Western Road diversion as running until Friday 13 November (service updates), two days after the council’s expected full reopening. The council had not confirmed the road had reopened when we checked that afternoon. Live stop-by-stop detail is on our roadworks page.

Updated 9 November: the council leader re-approved the red route in an urgent decision on 6 November, after a legal challenge, and confirmed that private cars may not stop on it to drop off passengers: our report.

Cabinet approved the red route on 17 September. Fourteen councillors called the decision in, but the council made the order on 15 October: what Cabinet decided and the call-in.

What it means for you

  • Drivers: Western Road stays shut between Holland Road and Montpelier Road until at least Tuesday. The twelve side streets made two-way for the works stay that way for now.
  • Bus passengers: Norfolk Square and Brunswick Place stops are still not served in either direction. Use Palmeira Square or Waitrose instead. The operator’s notice covers 16 routes, including the 1, 2, 5, 6, 21, 25, 46 and 49.
  • The notice has not caught up yet. When we checked Brighton & Hove Buses’ service updates on Saturday 7 November, the Western Road diversion was still dated to end that day. Check on the morning you travel.
  • This weekend: buses also replace trains between Brighton and Worthing on Saturday and Sunday, and roads around the Old Steine and in Hove close for Remembrance Sunday.

Every closure in the city this week is on our roadworks and travel page, and the car parks nearest the shops are on the parking in Brighton page.