Bypass benefits

The A27, which is part of England’s Strategic Road Network (SRN), is the most unreliable trunk road in the country. It is already grossly congested in the Arundel area, and this congestion is forecast to get worse.

Indeed, the A27 around Arundel is one of the top six traffic congestion hot-spots in the whole country. This problem, therefore, needs to be resolved.

Additionally, the congestion has an adverse impact on the economic prospects of West Sussex and Arun district, as well as causing local problems in Arundel itself and on the roads in the South Downs National Park, to the north of the town.

Thus, as long as a sensible route can be identified, an A27 bypass around Arundel would be good for the nation, the county and the district.

Two possible routes have been suggested, and these will, of course, be the subject of public consultation sometime ere long.

Of the two routes, one through Tortington Common and one through Binsted, I personally support the Tortington Common option, especially as it was proposed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust in the first place, when it was supported by the Binsted-based Arundel Bypass Neighbourhood Committee, Friends of the Earth and CPRE.

Finally, perchance some people may not have noticed, the current proposals make it clear that the chosen route must also be accompanied by a suite of welcome sustainable transport measures in support of pedestrians, cyclists and buses, as well as by environmental and landscape mitigation measures.

The sooner a bypass is built here, the better, for the town of Arundel, for the people of Arundel, and for those who need to drive past Arundel on the SRN for whatever reason.

Derek Waller

Surrey Wharf

Arundel

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