Horsham town centre roadworks to continue for an extra four weeks

Works along Albion Way were scheduled to end at the beginning of next month but West Sussex County Council has announced the full scale of the improvements will not be completed until the end of September.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The temporary traffic lights and traffic management which has reduced the road down to a single lane will be clear by September 6.

“Following that there will be a two week period during which new lights will be set up. During this time temporary traffic lights will run with all movements and all lanes in operation. This will not be quite as efficient as the full permanent system but will be much better than current layout. We do not anticipate anything like the level of disruption caused by the current traffic management.

“There will be overnight road closures for resurfacing works during week commencing September 21 and (provisionally) during week commencing September 28.”

The works began more than three weeks ago and are being undertaken by the developers of the John Lewis and Waitrose store as part of conditions attached to the planning permission.

The Bishopric and Albion Way remain gridlocked at times and the sound of car horns continues to echo around the streets as motorists vent their frustration. The works have also delayed emergency services as they respond to calls.

On Tuesday, August 25, firefighters were caught in the traffic for more than a minute while on their way to a vehicle fire near Barns Green.

Metro Bus, which serves routes to and from the town centre, said it has been forced to change routes and add extra vehicles in order to reduce delays. A spokesperson said: “We have been putting additional buses into service to reduce the impact but some delays have been inevitable.

“Due to the one-way nature of the town centre, buses on routes 23, 51 and 98 have to travel through them twice each time towards Southwater and The Common.

“To reduce the delays, buses haven’t been serving the Carfax on these routes.”