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Improvements planned for jammed A27
12:52pm Friday 16th May 2008
One of the most congested roads in the country could be in line for a raft of traffic-easing improvements.
Improvement plans for the A27 at Worthing and Arundel have been submitted to the South East England Regional Transport Board, part of the South East England Regional Assembly.
The news emerges as figures obtained by The Argus show the east-west trunk road is one of the busiest in the UK.
Delays between Portsmouth and Hastings average 3.1 minutes for every ten miles travelled and 2.7 minutes in the reverse direction. At peak times delays reach almost four minutes per ten miles.
Nick Skellett, the chairman of the South East England Regional Transport Board, said: "The board is aware of the problems on the A23 and A27 and that is why we have identified the need to invest regional money in solutions that address these problems."
As a result of the board'sadvice about 18 months ago the A27 Chichester Bypass scheme was given a start date of 2014/5.
It was indicated the Arundel Bypass scheme could begin soon after 2016. But the A27 Worthing and Lancing improvements did not feature at all.
However the board is now refreshing its advice and moving the programme forward two years to 2018.
Those schemes already submitted under the 2016 programme, such as Chichester's £137m improvements due for 2014/5, will have to be resubmitted although it is unlikely they will be dropped.
The rethink allows the possibility of securing a place in the programme for schemes such as Arundel Bypass and and Worthing and Lancing improvements - which are being pushed forward by West Sussex County Council.
The A27 is busier than the southern stretch of the M1.
The A23 is rated as carrying moderate levels of traffic, compared to the A27's high level. The A23 and M23 experience average delays of 15 seconds per ten miles.
A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said: "It comes as no surprise to learn that the A27 is one of Britain's most congested roads. The county council has been fighting over the years for enough money to fund improvements to this road.
"There are of course additional concerns that if an eco-town is built at Ford, this will place additional pressures not only on the A27 but also on the infrastructure of the entire area, unless the Government recognises the need for more financial support."
A spokesman for East Sussex County Council added: "We have long been calling for key sections of the A27 to be duelled - not only to minimise congestion but also to improve safety."
If the board supports the Arundel Bypass the next step would be a public consultation which the Highways Agency would move forwards as soon as possible.
A draft transport strategy for Worthing will be available in the first part of 2009 as a result of collaborative work between local authorities and the Highways Agency.
For stories about transport in your area visit theargus.co.uk/localinfo
Your Say YourArgus
LB, Hove says...
1:17pm Fri 16 May 08
At peak times delays reach almost four minutes per ten miles.
and how much money is to be spent to save four minutes off a ten mile journey?
bobby bigballs, Brighton says...
1:48pm Fri 16 May 08
Dave, Hastings says...
1:56pm Fri 16 May 08
S.T. Rewth, Brighton says...
2:07pm Fri 16 May 08
Pete, BRIGHTON says...
2:51pm Fri 16 May 08
JJ, Worthing says...
2:53pm Fri 16 May 08
Its not just a bout 1 journey of 10 miles consider teh accumulative delay of all the 1000's drivers journeys, many of which are more than just 10 miles.
Travelling 10 miles at 60 mph as is reasonable on an uncongested dual carriageway should take you 10 minutes, yet because of these roads it takes you almost 50% longer.
Not forgetting that almost everything is delevered by road at some point means these delays make goods and services we all rely on more expensive and take longer.
The overall picture is whats important
jayne, hove says...
3:07pm Fri 16 May 08
whogivesa, Brighton says...
4:59pm Fri 16 May 08
Only thing is it should have been done 20 years ago. By 2018 I'll almost be too old to drive!!
Gentleman Jim, Brighton says...
5:16pm Fri 16 May 08
bobby bigballs, brighton says...
6:04pm Fri 16 May 08
JJ wrote:We have the labour government to thank for everything going by road - it all used to go by train years ago but now with all these foreign drivers around around aswell the roads are terrible.
"and how much money is to be spent to save four minutes off a ten mile journey?" Its not just a bout 1 journey of 10 miles consider teh accumulative delay of all the 1000's drivers journeys, many of which are more than just 10 miles. Travelling 10 miles at 60 mph as is reasonable on an uncongested dual carriageway should take you 10 minutes, yet because of these roads it takes you almost 50% longer. Not forgetting that almost everything is delevered by road at some point means these delays make goods and services we all rely on more expensive and take longer. The overall picture is whats important
Lord Larry, worthing says...
9:29pm Fri 16 May 08
LB wrote:Are you some sort of idiot??
At peak times delays reach almost four minutes per ten miles.and how much money is to be spent to save four minutes off a ten mile journey?
The money wasted on fuel in this congestion is huge. The polution is increadibly high as these drivers are running their engines much longer than needed each and every day. Its not so noticeable because its spread over a few thousand drivers each day but its happening.
The cost of actually building a bypass would probably not cost as much if you take that and the damage to the environment into account.
Why do we pay so much in fuel tax and raod tax when Labour wont build any roads??
Road Hog, Worthing says...
9:40pm Fri 16 May 08
It will be too late to start building then.
Can these morons stop wasting time proposing it and just get on and do it NOW!!!!
It needs someone to stand up and take the lead on this. You dont see statue's dedicated to committe's do you, only to people who actually do something. that's what we need someone with balls and authority. Gordon Brown,or Alistair Darling need not apply.
pee wee, worthing says...
9:46pm Fri 16 May 08
Vicky, Worthing says...
11:32pm Fri 16 May 08
Instead we prefer to sit around and do bugger all in this country except sit in commitees and procrastinate over bird tables and other assorted nonsense rather than getting things done.
I'm sure the 'raft' of Worthing/Lancing improvements will involve a slew of gatsos, speed humps, 50mph limits and kerbs extended into the road.
And I say this as someone who virtually never uses her car but in the instance of the A27 it's a joke.
This country should be ashamed we have so planning botches and shambles like this.
Roy Hills, Heathfield says...
11:42pm Fri 16 May 08
whogivesa, Brighton says...
8:09am Sat 17 May 08
Vicky wrote:You are 100% right. I live in France for some of the year and the shambles that you see along the A27 just doesn't exist there. Driving is still a pleasure in France. Diesel is 20% cheaper, there's no road tax, and even side roads are in better condition than our A roads. Ok, so you have to pay to use the motorways, but it's not a rip off.
Only in this country could a joke like the A27 exist. A half arsed botched together series of bypasses and shortcuts, penny pinching and other assorted matters. If this was Germany or France the route would have been sorted long ago and sensitively to the environment, i.e. no M3 Twford Down debacle all over again... Instead we prefer to sit around and do bugger all in this country except sit in commitees and procrastinate over bird tables and other assorted nonsense rather than getting things done. I'm sure the 'raft' of Worthing/Lancing improvements will involve a slew of gatsos, speed humps, 50mph limits and kerbs extended into the road. And I say this as someone who virtually never uses her car but in the instance of the A27 it's a joke. This country should be ashamed we have so planning botches and shambles like this.
Choked Up, Hove says...
10:40am Sat 17 May 08
How many more decades will it take to prove that the more roads you build, the more traffic immediately fills 'em up?
To even think about encouraging MORE car use, destroying whatever remains of the countryside and further wrecking the environment at a time like this is sheer insanity.
How about improving rail service and making it reliable and affordable ....like on the Continent?
"Duh".
Charley, Brighton says...
11:09am Sat 17 May 08
Vicky, Worthing says...
1:31pm Sat 17 May 08
I rarely use my car (I walk everywhere and always get the train into Brighton - I probably use my car a couple of times every fortnight tops) -- yet I'm still for a proper solution to the problems at Worthing, Lancing and Arundel.
No one is suggesting we build a dual three lane hard shouldered motorway across the downs (I'd die of shock before that ever happened), a dual carriageway like the Brighton and Hove bypass.
Does anyone remember how fantastic the A27 through Shoreham, Southwick, Portslade, Hove and Brighton was before your bypass. I would definitely say the bypass was utterly unnecessary... (I'm being sarcastic.)
If the road is screened and placed in tunnels as was the plan before 1996, there does not need to destruction on a massive scale like Twyford Down.
Have the road networks of Switzerland and France destroyed the mountain ranges and landscapes surrounding? No. Because the job is done properly, if a tunnel is needed, it's done -- unlike here where we shoot ourselves in the foot and gouge a great hole through Twyford Down -- no wonder road building in this country has such a bad name.
The fact is the A27 is a joke. People and transportation still happens in cars, despite so much effort to drive them off the road and persuade them to use public transport. Apart from when an accident occurs, when has the Brighton & Hove Bypass actually been snarled up? Only when it slams into Shoreham Airport's traffic lights.
So before you have some ideal I'm a V12 petrol head who pours petrol down penguin's throats for a laugh -far from it. I'm for a sensible solution that removes the huge traffic bottleneck through the South Coast, doing it the right way, regenerating towns, tunneling to remove visual intrusion on the beautiful south down landscapes and to rid these poor towns of the dail gridlock of fumes and faces drawn with malaise.
If anyone seriously would want to go back to the pre-Brighton & Hove bypass days of the A27 slicing through your now-city, I'd laugh. I know this as I used to live on what was the A27 before and after the bypass in Brighton and the improvement is utterly vast.
whogivesa, Brighton says...
7:23pm Sat 17 May 08
Choked Up wrote:2 problems with your argument. I wouldn't travel on any public transport after 8pm. Full of drunks and idiots. Not so on the continent, so that's why it's a proper alternative there. It just isn't here.
Anyone out there even giving a thought to (gasp!) the environment? OK. Go ahead. Widen the A27. Rip out the trees and flatten the green spaces. Bulldoze parts of towns and smash peoples' homes. And bingo! The "new", bigger, wider A27 will instantly fill up with twice as much traffic. How many more decades will it take to prove that the more roads you build, the more traffic immediately fills 'em up? To even think about encouraging MORE car use, destroying whatever remains of the countryside and further wrecking the environment at a time like this is sheer insanity. How about improving rail service and making it reliable and affordable ....like on the Continent? "Duh".
The other part of your argument suggests that we should leave the roads as they are as it will discourage people from using their cars. Nonsense. We PAY for a proper road system, but we don't have one.
The French model is one that bears looking at. They have well designed roads all over their country (bridge at Millau, anyone?) and they manage to not intrude onto the landscape, but compliment it. It takes VISION. That's what we lack. And also we have far too many commitees. Let's ditch them and get on with it.
Vicky is completely right in everything she says.
Johnny, South Coast says...
9:33am Sat 24 May 08
Oh how awful! Personal freedom!
We'll have to put a stop to that in the name of environmentalism!
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bob, lewes says...
1:15pm Fri 16 May 08
Maybe sometime after 2018??!!
Well well arent we lucky after over 40 years of trying and with the worst traffic conditions of the lot mentioned
gsomething might happen in 10 years time, or perhaps as usual a new govt will come into power and the whole thing will be scrapped..
Will someone please have the balls to give us a main coast road that is actually suitable. Chichester can **** off - it alreday has a bypass!