The A29 will reopen following a long closure due to a landslide three months ago.
A landslide occurred on the road near Pulborough in December last year at the narrowest part of the road, where both sides are flanked by steep embankments, causing the road to be closed for safety reasons.
Residents and motorists had expressed anger and frustration that the road had been closed for several months.
West Sussex County Council will start work on opening one lane of the road to traffic, with concrete blocks used to create a single-lane carriageway down the centre of the road.
Contractors are set to start work shortly, which is expected to take approximately two weeks.
The land on either side of the carriageway, which is where engineering works must take place, is owned by private landowners. Despite lengthy negotiations, the council did not reach an agreement and instead issued a notice requiring them to remove debris and carry out the work required to prevent future landslides.
Matt Davey, the council’s director of highways, said: “The council has offered to undertake the works on the private land to reopen the road to one-lane traffic.
“We have been optimistic about reaching an agreement with the landlords.
“Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement with the two landowners and are left with no choice but to utilise our statutory powers to require the landowners to do the works at their expense so that we can open the road.
“We are continuing our dialogue with the landowners in the hope that an agreement can be reached and would urge the landowners to be pragmatic in their approach to those discussions.”
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The council had previously resisted calls to reopen the road with a single lane, as it had been hoped an agreement with the landowners could be reached quickly.
However, given the amount of time that had passed, it was decided to implement a one-lane system.
Council officials said they understood the frustration of residents, businesses and those who use the route and thanked them for their patience during the road’s closure.
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