MP welcomes consultation for Arundel bypass
Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert has reiterated his strong support for an Arundel bypass and urged local people to take part in the public consultation on route options published by Highways England today.
Highways England has presented three options for consideration after reviewing several possible routes. The Government has committed between £100 million and £250 million to deliver the much-needed dualling of this section of the A27.
A number of public information displays will take place throughout the consultation period, and feedback is essential for Highways England.
The preferred route will be announced next Spring, to be followed by a final public consultation. Construction is due to begin by the end of March 2020.
Mr Herbert said: "It is great news to see this public consultation which brings the much-needed Arundel bypass a step closer to reality.
"I strongly support a dual-carriageway bypass which is desperately needed to relieve congestion, reduce journey times and support the local economy. There would also be a net environmental gain, with less traffic rat-running through the historic town of Arundel and the South Downs National Park and its villages.
"I continue to favour the original ‘pink-blue’ route, now renamed Option 3, which was agreed by the whole community decades ago. The impact on woodland, which is replanted conifers, could be mitigated by creating a much greater area of new woodland. I am concerned about Option 1 which would divide Arundel and be less effective in reducing congestion as there would still be traffic lights and roundabouts.
"I believe that the overwhelming majority of local people want a proper bypass, and I urge everyone to have their say in the public consultation. This substantial investment of between £100 and £250 million was hard won, and we must not make the same mistake as at Chichester by losing it."
ENDS
Notes
1. To read the Highways England options consultation brochure, published 22 August 2017, see https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/he/a27-arundel-bypass/supporting_documents/S170141_A27%20Arundel%20Consultation_v2_lowres.pdf.
2. To participate in the online consultation, which runs until 16 October 2017, see https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/he/a27-arundel-bypass/
3. To read 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 (December 2014) see here.
5. The Government announced its commitment and investment to improve the A27 in December 2014. The news release can be read at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-roads-investment-in-london-and-the-south-east.
6. To read Nick Herbert's blogpost 'Time to make the case for an Arundel bypass' (December 2013) see http://nickherbert.net/2013/12/08/time-to-make-the-case-for-an-arundel-by-pass/.
7. An Arundel bypass was first proposed in 1985, and was elevated to the Conservative Government’s main roads programme in 1996, but was shelved by the Labour Government in 2003. The ‘South Coast Multi Modal Study’ in 2002 confirmed the need for it. Nick Herbert campaigned to have the scheme put back into the roads programme, and in 2014 the Government announced its investment as part of the Road Investment Strategy 1 (RIS1).