Speculation over road plans

THE Highways Agency is to hold a public exhibition in Lewes in December to consult people on a range of options it has for making the Beddingham level-crossing, near Lewes, a safer place for motorists and train passengers alike.

The Agency is not at present going into details about the options but a spokesman this week said the main thrust will be to raise the A27 road over the existing railway.

The A27 Action Group however believes another bigger option will be on display a dual-carriageway alongside the railway line, passing under the railway into Southerham Grey pit where a new gyratory system will replace the current Southerham roundabout.

Action Group spokesman Alan Chapman said: 'The safety concerns are being used as an excuse to begin the dualling process along the A27.

'If safety at the level-crossing is seen as the problem, then surely enforcement cameras would be a quick and cost-effective means of addressing this concern.

'Any proposal which increases capacity on the A27 is extremely costly and will prove ineffective. This is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.'

The Action Group believes that the proposal involves re-routing the A27 to run parallel to the south side of the railway. It would then dive under the railway forming a massive spaghetti junction in Southerham Grey Pit.

'The rules are being bent left, right and centre to push this scheme through when there is no justification for such draconian measures,' added Mr Chapman.

'Desperate'

'This scheme is likely to cost around 30 million. What else could this 30 million buy? Public transport is desperate for investment.

'Once the work is done, it will increase demand on the Ashcombe roundabout, leading to possible further expensive work. Who knows where it will end? Do we really want the M27 going past Lewes and its countryside?'

Southerham Grey Pit is a site of special scientific interest designated for its fossils.

Local resident Richard Ruzyllo believes the favoured option is the A27 taken over the railtrack with two dual-carriageways (four lanes of traffic) built on an eight-metre high earth bank running along the line of the current A27 from Beddingham to the top of Ranscombe Hill.

And he added: 'Should not the solution be provided by the railway authorities rather than the Highways Agency?

'For instance, a viaduct over Beddingham crossing could not only lift the railway track out of the floodplain but be much less disruptive to the environment.

'There must be a rail-based rather than a road-based solution.

'Or is the answer to be found in laying several million tons of earth and concrete along the Ouse valley?'

l Research carried out at AA service centres including ones at Brighton, Newhaven and Eastbourne, shows motorists are facing rush-hour journeys that are dramatically longer than they were five years ago.