[Sussex] The A27 in Sussex (mainly Worthing to Shoreham)

[southstandandy]

I do wonder whether all this work was necessary. Simply put they have moved the entry/exit point to the airport and the new housing from the old Sussex pad junction to a new roundabout 200 yards further along the road. Other than a new pavement benefiting pedestrians what essentially is the difference?

This must have cost a shit load of money and seems to have simply moved the airport / Coombes junction just further along the road. Why couldn't the traffic from the airport and the new houses just use the Sussex Pad lights as before?

With the phasing of the new roundabout lights being wrong I really can't see the benefit of over a year's work and disruption?

 

[Giraffe]

The answer was to stop building houses but from Chichester to Shoreham they have increased massively. As others have said the Chichester bit is awful, mostly due to building a bypass and then building houses on the other side of it plus massive development north of Bognor. It’s just going to continue and get worse and worse. Don’t see an obvious answer to it.

And what happened to the Arundel bypass? Into the long grass? Ironic given it was going to trample all over nature.

 

[Sea Cider]

The newly added traffic lights on the roundabout are incredibly stupid. It was working beautifully without. Not to mention the ones further along that seem to sometimes flick between red and green every 20 seconds.

I would also like to raise you the new traffic light timing on the roundabout just outside Lewes that they've somehow managed to cock up such that there's now a guaranteed 10-15 minute queue back to the Amex EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Absolute cretins in charge of all this. Presumably not incentivised, or even instructed, to consider optimal traffic flow.

 

[LamieRobertson]

What I cant understand is the ongoing quest to build more housing without any thought for the supporting infrastructure - beyond the roads which are at their limit already - what about schools, emergency services and Dr's etc?

Exactly what a lot of residents of Shoreham are saying about the numerous blocks of flats being built on the coast road ..mention it and h get called a nimby or as zeberdi would call It a nibby

 

[LamieRobertson]

Nope - the industrial estate where Ricardo and other companies are based. When the housing estate is built and people move in will be a real test of how this roundabout helps (or not) with managing additional load on an already overstretched local infrastructure.

..I hadn’t thought about those new industrial units being built on the edge of the airfield

 

[theboybilly]

There's far too much dependency on cars to get about when there are so many viable alternatives including walking. So many unnecessary car journeys undertaken that that could easily be done without the need for more roads.Paving over the whole countryside for the benefit of the most unsustainable form of transport is never going to be the answer. Traffic is holding things up but always remember that YOU are part of the traffic, not pedestrians, not cyclists, not motorcyclists or those on public transport. Think about how you could make your life easier and more healthy than sitting for hours on end moving at 3mph

 

[Mustafa II]

There's far too much dependency on cars to get about when there are so many viable alternatives including walking. So many unnecessary car journeys undertaken that that could easily be done without the need for more roads.Paving over the whole countryside for the benefit of the most unsustainable form of transport is never going to be the answer. Traffic is holding things up but always remember that YOU are part of the traffic, not pedestrians, not cyclists, not motorcyclists or those on public transport. Think about how you could make your life easier and more healthy than sitting for hours on end moving at 3mph

I don't think this particular point can be made on a thread about the A27. A majority of the people using this road during the busiest times are working/trying to get to and from work. Walking or cycling isn't an option.

 

[southstandandy]

..I hadn’t thought about those new industrial units being built on the edge of the airfield

But that still doesn't bring that much extra traffic on to this site. 20 to 30 vehicles a day.

 

[southstandandy]

Exactly what a lot of residents of Shoreham are saying about the numerous blocks of flats being built on the coast road ..mention it and h get called a nimby or as zeberdi would call It a nibby

I bought this up with Tim Loughton last year. I'm not against them building in a brown belt area, but the planning authorities are giving the go ahead left right and centre for all those blocks of flats, but there isn't the road network to support them. The coast road resembles a car park in rush hour - god knows when the extra blocks of flats are completed what the coast road will be like?

 

[LamieRobertson]

There's far too much dependency on cars to get about when there are so many viable alternatives including walking. So many unnecessary car journeys undertaken that that could easily be done without the need for more roads.Paving over the whole countryside for the benefit of the most unsustainable form of transport is never going to be the answer. Traffic is holding things up but always remember that YOU are part of the traffic, not pedestrians, not cyclists, not motorcyclists or those on public transport. Think about how you could make your life easier and more healthy than sitting for hours on end moving at 3mph

Thanks but I’ve tried a lawnmower on my back ..didn’t work

 

[Gwylan]

I don't think this particular point can be made on a thread about the A27. A majority of the people using this road during the busiest times are working/trying to get to and from work. Walking or cycling isn't an option.

I don't get that argument: the A27 pretty much follows the rail route. There are plenty of roads with no alternative public transport, but the A27 isn't one of them.

At a time when more people are working from home and fewer people are commuting, I imagine that upgrading the road is going to be a very low financial priority.

 

[LamieRobertson]

I bought this up with Tim Loughton last year. I'm not against them building in a brown belt area, but the planning authorities are giving the go ahead left right and centre for all those blocks of flats, but there isn't the road network to support them. The coast road resembles a car park in rush hour - god knows when the extra blocks of flats are completed what the coast road will be like?

When completed and occupied..not just the roads ..as has been said pressure on local services in health and education…wouldn’t have taken much to have made a condition of planning permission the provision of a doctors surgery (yeah I know it’s got to be staffed) ..the council seem to have a close relationship with Hyde Homes and Southern Housing

 

[zefarelly]

There's far too much dependency on cars to get about when there are so many viable alternatives including walking. So many unnecessary car journeys undertaken that that could easily be done without the need for more roads.Paving over the whole countryside for the benefit of the most unsustainable form of transport is never going to be the answer. Traffic is holding things up but always remember that YOU are part of the traffic, not pedestrians, not cyclists, not motorcyclists or those on public transport. Think about how you could make your life easier and more healthy than sitting for hours on end moving at 3mph

I disagree about viable alternatives . . . Public transport is dire and most people work on industrial estates out of town. All the industrial space in towns has been redeveloped into more homes.

I resigned from a good job 2 1/2 years ago to work locally. 5 minute cycle, 12 minute walk. at least 2 generations now have been conditioned to commute . . . . We are our own worst enemies.

 

[Sea Cider]

I don't get that argument: the A27 pretty much follows the rail route. There are plenty of roads with no alternative public transport, but the A27 isn't one of them.

At a time when more people are working from home and fewer people are commuting, I imagine that upgrading the road is going to be a very low financial priority.

My Lewes to Worthing route door to door takes 80 minutes each way on the train, vs 30 in the car (on a good day). It's no contest.

Though thinking about it, maybe that's the plan, make my drive so reliably shit that it makes more sense to use equally shit public transport.

 

[Papak]

Chichester bypass is always fun

I'm sure I remember reading somewhen about a possible bypass for the Chichester bypass...

I also have memories of family holidays in the West and my dad moaning about the Chichester bypass being a nightmare over 40 years ago!!!

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I remember when the old toll bridge took all the traffic on the A27 - happy days

 

[zefarelly]

During Lockdown, I got from Shoreham to work in Chi in under 25 minutes . . . the roads were a joy. Briefly

 

[theboybilly]

I don't think this particular point can be made on a thread about the A27. A majority of the people using this road during the busiest times are working/trying to get to and from work. Walking or cycling isn't an option.

Sorry but I think you are missing the point entirely. The vast majority of traffic on most stretches of A-Road with be relatively local. Worthing to Brighton is what, 10 miles? The trains are expensive but in comparison to using a car not so much in real terms and generally time efficient especially at peak times . Cycling 10 miles won't be for many obviously but half that distance to Shoreham certainly will so that if some travelled by train and others by other means the roads would be less congested for those that really can only use cars, vans and trucks. But we live in a world where everybody's journey is the most important and you have to be at least a car in front -it's the law! No, let's waste billions of pounds on new roads that are not needed just to appease the car lobby. We should be taxing cars off the road not encouraging more use.

 

[Mustafa II]

Sorry but I think you are missing the point entirely. The vast majority of traffic on most stretches of A-Road with be relatively local. Worthing to Brighton is what, 10 miles? The trains are expensive but in comparison to using a car not so much in real terms and generally time efficient especially at peak times . Cycling 10 miles won't be for many obviously but half that distance to Shoreham certainly will so that if some travelled by train and others by other means the roads would be less congested for those that really can only use cars, vans and trucks. But we live in a world where everybody's journey is the most important and you have to be at least a car in front -it's the law! No, let's waste billions of pounds on new roads that are not needed just to appease the car lobby. We should be taxing cars off the road not encouraging more use.

Not everyone lives near a station. Not everyone works near a station. Only a lucky few live and work near stations. Not everyone can cycle or walk long distances. A lot of people need to transport heavy equipment to work.

There are a multitude of reasons why people need to use the A27 to drive to work and that is why it gets so busy during peak times, it's not just local traffic.

But no, your solution is to further punish people having to suffer this horrible commute by 'taxing cars off the road'.

 

[LamieRobertson]

During Lockdown, I got from Shoreham to work in Chi in under 25 minutes . . . the roads were a joy. Briefly

I got from Shoreham to the Marina in under 20