A27 Arundel Bypass: This is how proposals have changed as new consultation launched

The Arundel Bypass scheme is the subject of a fresh consultation, with further public events planned due to design changes. Click here to see the list of events.

National Highways intends to submit a ‘development consent order’ – the equivalent of a planning application for major infrastructure projects – by Spring 2023.

The non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Transport, said it received ‘thousands of responses’ to its statutory consultation, which ran From January 11 until March 8.

As a result of the feedback and ‘ongoing design work’, the developers have proposed ‘some changes’ to the design of the scheme and is seeking fresh views from the public.

This supplementary consultation runs from today (Wednesday, November 16) until Friday, December 16. The four key areas which have been refined are; changes to reduce traffic impacts in and around Walberton; mitigating the scheme’s effects on bats, near Tye Lane; updated proposals in relation to the Avisford Park Golf Club and potential changes at the Crossbush Junction.

A National Highways spokesperson said: “Following the statutory consultation, based on your feedback and our ongoing design work, we have continued to look at ways of tackling the predicted increase in traffic passing through Walberton.

"As part of this supplementary consultation, we are outlining a number of changes to our design which would reduce the predicted increase in

traffic in and around Walberton from what was presented in the statutory consultation.

"We have undertaken extensive design work, assessments and reviewed a number of options to determine the most effective changes to our proposals.”

How have the plans changed?

To manage traffic in and around Walberton and reduce the traffic flows, the developers have now proposed to:

- Maintain a one-way link at Tye Lane;

- Ensure the proposed traffic signals at Fontwell West Roundabout allow for the most efficient traffic flows along the A27;

- Retain the current arrangements at the Arundel Road junction on the A27

As a result, the developers have reduced the number of additional journeys along the eastern section of The Street to an increase of approximately 100 vehicles per day, compared to the forecast increase of approximately 1,300 vehicles per day that was shown previously.

Project manager Andrew Jackson told SussexWorld: “We did have a 50 per cent increase in traffic on The Street. We've got that down to four per cent. That is a major achievement.

"I would argue that is a fundamental change from where we were in January.

"At Walberton there is no easy solution. We've looked at a range of mitigations and we've come up with a basket of measures. There's no single fix that will reduce impact on Walberton in particular. Rat-running is always very difficult to remove completely but we need to reduce and mitigate it to acceptable levels.”

The proposed changes also introduce a modified vertical alignment for the new A27. This would be lower at Tye Lane, also reducing the height of the proposed Tye Lane overbridge, when compared to the alignment presented at statutory consultation.

National Highways said this will ‘reduce the noise, air quality effects and visual impact’ of the scheme.

They added: “The environmental effects are unchanged from those previously reported in our statutory consultation, other than in The Street where the revised proposals are expected to result in substantially less traffic and significantly less noise.”

The developers also plan to mitigate the scheme’s effects on bats, having carried out further surveys which have identified ‘a number of roosts’ in the vicinity of Tye Lane.

At the Crossbush junction, at the eastern end of the scheme, National Highways is ‘considering a number of potential amendments’ to the design. They intend to allow for ‘better traffic flows, increased capacity and reduced congestion’ to ensure the junction is ‘able to accommodate predicted future growth in traffic volumes’.

Mr Jackson said: “Capacity is still a big issue at Crossbush, so we are still looking at design options. This is a potential change. We may have an additional bridge, with a slip lane going off to the east.”

What about the golf club?

The Avisford Park Golf Club remains directly affected by the scheme but new options are being considered.

"We are clearly putting a road across a significant part of it,” Mr Jackson said. “One of the options [in the statutory consultation] was to reinstate it in some form as 18-hole golf course.

"We've come to the conclusion that, due to the extra land required, this is now not going to be achievable.

“We are still retaining the option of a nine-hole course and a driving range on the existing site but it may not be possible to put a viable solution in place at that location.”

If it is concluded that it is not possible to make adequate re-provision of golfing facilities at the Avisford Park Golf Club, then the developers will ‘need to

consider the option of closing the golf club’.

They are obtaining specialist advice, including guidance from other golf course developments around the country, ‘in order to determine the right solution’.

In the event of the golf club being closed, National Highways said it would negotiate compensation with the golf club and landowners and ‘potentially agree off-site mitigation’ with Arun District Council and England Golf. They said this would be in the form of investment in facilities and/or initiatives to

improve participation in golf ‘should that be found to be appropriate’.

Mr Jackson added: “We would welcome feedback from not only golf club members but also the public around that area.

“There are a number of things to be considered here and they are complex factors. There may be compelling reasons to do it [close the golf course]. We need a full assessment on this.”

‘Best possible solution’

Mr Jackson said the fresh proposal for the bypass is the ‘best possible solution we could arrive at’ but acknowledged that it is ‘not going to solve the problem for everybody’.

"With growing traffic and population and development around the area, there is going to be increased traffic,” he said.

"It is always a long process but the amount of work and improvements we've made over the last 12 months, we are absolutely very close now to being able to submit it for a development consent order.”

A potential construction start date has been pushed back to Summer 2024 to account for the proposed design changes.

The developers have argued that the proposed bypass will improve the ‘severely congested’ A27 as it passes through Arundel.

The plans have divided opinion. Hundreds of residents in local villages, surrounding Arundel, condemned the bypass plans, with a number of peaceful protests held over the safety and environmental impact.

However, the proposal has had some support from groups such as OneArundel, whose members feel a bypass is vital.

“If there was an obvious option that would please most people, this route would have been built 30 years ago,” Mr Jackson added. “We can do the best possible for this scheme but we cannot solve this for everybody.

"I do recognise there people in Walberton are going to be impacted and we are focusing on as much mitigation as we can for that community.

"Lots of other communities further afield, like Arundel, Littlehampton, Storrington, are affected by the current scheme and are absolutely telling us we need to get on with building this road.”

Next steps?

Once the consultation has closed at 23:59 on December 16, National Highways will review all the suggestions and comments received on the changes proposed.

A spokesperson said: “We will take time to analyse your feedback on the proposed changes as we make further refinements to our proposed design and develop any mitigation measures.

“We will set out a summary of the responses that you have given us in a consultation report, with details of how your feedback has helped to shape our proposals.”

This report will form part of a DCO application and will be available to the public following submission of the application, which is expected to take place in spring 2023.

If the application for a DCO is accepted by the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, an examining authority will consider the application, and any representations, which will take six months.

The examining authority will be given three months to report its recommendation to the Secretary of State, who has a further three months to make a final

decision on whether or not to grant a DCO for the scheme.

If the application is approved, work is expected to start in 2024/2025. Click here to see the updated plans in full.

See also: This is where stormy weather has altered the coastline in West Sussex - and what it means