West Sussex roadworks subject to complaints - This is why and what will happen next

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, claimed UK Power Distribution (UKPD) ‘only have permission to operate during certain hours’ and no lane closures are permitted for the ongoing works at Norfolk Bridge in Shoreham.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he added: “County council now dealing with them so hopefully things will improve."

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) told Sussex World that the works currently being undertaken at the Norfolk Bridge roundabout in Shoreham are to ‘improve the electricity network’ for the Brighton City Airport (BCA) development.

"Without these works BCA will not be able to operate and so must be allowed to take place,” a WSCC spokesperson added

“Initially UK Power Distribution suggested these works would take place over three weeks using multiway traffic signals. We amended UKPD’s approach to only one week of lights (this week) and then subsequently working under lane closures for a further two weeks to reduce the disruptive impact of these works.”

The council said part of this agreement was that UKPD were to ‘manually control the traffic lights at peak times’ so that signal timings ‘could be adjusted as required to reduce disruption’.

The spokesperson added: “This means that they could allow for the additional traffic traveling eastbound through in the morning peak and westbound traffic in the evening peak. Unfortunately, UKPD did not use manual control as instructed.

“They have since been directed again to manually control the traffic lights between 6.30am to 9.30am and 4pm to 6.30pm.”

The Matrix Group, which UKPD is part of, has issued a statement in response.

A spokesperson said: “The electrical network reinforcement works we’re carrying out along Norfolk Bridge in Shoreham have required traffic management to be put in place. We’ve worked with West Sussex County Council throughout to implement appropriate timed and manual systems to help ease the flow of traffic, particularly during peak times.

“Following a review on Wednesday morning (October 4), manual traffic management is now in place from 6.30am to 6.30pm until our works are complete.

"It should also be noted, this is part of a busy road network for which the flow of traffic can also be impacted by factors beyond our control. Above all, our aim is to work in agreement with the council to complete our works on time, while ensuring safety for all.”