MP meets councils and business leaders to discuss A27 timetable
Arundel and South Downs MP Nick Herbert met local council and business leaders in Chichester on Friday (26 February) to discuss the progress for the upgrade of the A27.
The A27 Action meeting included Councillor John O’Brien, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Councillor Gill Brown, leader of Arun District Council, Councillor Eileen Lintill, Deputy Leader of Chichester District Council and Andrew Swayne, Head of Internal Audit at Ricardo and representing the businesses of West Sussex.
They discussed Highways England’s timetable for the Chichester, Arundel and Worthing to Lancing stretches of the A27. A formal public consultation on route options for the Arundel bypass and between Worthing and Lancing will take place in Spring 2017, followed by a preferred route announcement in the Autumn. The works are timetabled to start in Spring 2020 with the new road opening in 2023/24.
The A27 upgrades at Chichester, Worthing and Arundel are in the Government’s roads programme and are funded. The Chancellor has already allocated the money as part of the Government’s £15 billion national roads improvement to triple levels of investment by the end of the decade. £350 million has been allocated for the Arundel and Worthing sections.
The Chichester section will go ahead earlier having already received funding, with the formal public consultation on route options in Spring this year. The possible consideration of a northern Chichester bypass is causing enormous concern, and was discussed in the meeting on Friday, but this is in the hands of Highways England. The preferred route will be announced this Summer, with the start of works in 2018/2019 and the opening in 2020/2021.
Mr Herbert said: “Having lobbied very hard for the Arundel bypass, I was proud to have secured this major Government investment for our local area. I will continue to work with others in the local community to ensure that this important scheme, which we need to relieve congestion on the A27 and to protect our Downland villages, will go ahead as soon as possible.
“The A27 Action Campaign will continue to make the case for upgrades along this important route in West Sussex to ensure that the programme remains on track.”
ENDS
Notes
1. For more information about A27 Action see www.A27action.co.uk.
2. To read the Government’s Roads Investment Strategy see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-investment-strategy-for-the-2015-to-2020-road-period.
3. To read more about the Highways England project and timetable for the ‘A27 Arundel Improvement’ see http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/road-projects/a27-arundel-improvement/.
4. To read Nick’s news welcoming the Government’s announcement of funding for the A27 see http://www.nickherbert.com/news.php/575/mp-hails-quotfantastic-newsquoton-arundel-bypass.