A259 Brighton seafront road to stay closed for at least a few more days

The A259 Brighton seafront road is to stay closed for at least a few more days for safety work to be carried out on the site of the fire-damaged Royal Albion Hotel.

Brighton and Hove City Council said that it was urging Britannia Hotels, which owns the Royal Albion, to get the work done quickly.

There have been concerns about how the work might affect the Brighton Half Marathon which is due to take place on Sunday (2 March).

Councillor Trevor Muten, the council’s cabinet member for transport, parking and the public realm, said: “The A259 King’s Road remains closed between the Aquarium roundabout and East Street in both directions to traffic and will be so for at least the next couple of days.

“The pavement and cycle lanes to the south of the road remain open.

“Our priority remains the safety of the public but we recognise and apologise for the inconvenience and delays the closure is causing.

“We thank people for their continued patience.

“We’re doing everything we can to support Britannia Hotels and their contractor to get this work done quickly so we can reopen the road as soon as possible.

“We have also asked them to add additional signage to reduce traffic leading up to the road closure.

“We continue to stress to Brittania Hotels the urgency of the situation.

“The council is speaking regularly with organisers of the Brighton Half Marathon to keep them updated.”

The annual half marathon is the biggest fundraising event for the Sussex Beacon and crucial for its finances. Runners support many other charities too.

Businesses have previously flagged up the costs of an initial six-week road closure in the months after the fire, which started on Saturday 15 July 2023, including the Palace Pier.

There are hopes that the current closure will be much shorter but no date has been indicated for the reopening of the road.