Consultation Hub

Update: Further Consultation

Our initial round of options consultation has ended however our Further Public Consultation for the A27 Arundel Bypass is now open for you to give us your views. Click on the above link to visit our new consultation page or visit our scheme web page to have your say.

The further consultation, will give local people a fresh look at all the viable options for upgrading the A27, using the latest available information. Please visit our project page for more information on why we’ve chosen to conduct further consultation and the next steps.

If you have registered to receive updates about the scheme, you will be notified of when the consultation launches. Alternatively, if you’re yet to register for these updates and would like to receive them, please subscribe by clicking here.

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We asked for feedback on our proposals to improve the A27 at Arundel. These were to improve the capacity of the road, reduce congestion, improve the safety of travellers and accessibility for all users while also delivering a scheme that minimises the environmental impact and respects the special qualities of the South Downs National Park.

A total of 2,062 people attended the exhibitions and stakeholder meetings that were held during the consultation period. 2,821 completed questionnaires were returned and a further 7,135 responses by letter or email were also received. Of the written responses, 132 were from key stakeholders while there were also 2 petition email response campaigns, co-ordinated by Friends of the Earth and the Woodland Trust. These received 737 and 5,748 signatories, respectively.

The feedback we received showed that:

• 79% of people who responded agreed that the road needs to be improved.
• the majority of people who took part in the consultation were very concerned about congestion or delays at junctions, journey times and reliability.
• people were also concerned about the effects of A27 traffic on the environment, road safety and the impact that traffic trying to avoid the A27, has on other local roads.
• there are significant concerns over the environmental impact of the scheme as a whole, with 82% of environmental groups who responded opposed to the scheme. There are also specific concerns about how each of the 3 options would affect the environment.

The views expressed and matters raised have been summarised in our preferred route brochure, with more detail also provided in our report on public consultation. You can find both of these documents in the ‘files’ section below.

We have selected a modified version of Option 5A as our preferred route for this scheme.

By providing a new dual carriageway bypass between the Crossbush junction to the east of Arundel and a new junction between Binsted Lane and Yapton Lane to the west, Option 5A will provide a long-term solution to relieve congestion and delays in the area, and help reduce feeling of division in the town centre. It will also:

• improve journey times: this modified version will reduce average journey times by up to 8 minutes westbound between the A27/Blakehurst Lane/Poling Street junction and the A27/Mill Road/Tye Lane junction, and 12 minutes eastbound.
• make journeys safer: the bypass will improve safety on the highway network by encouraging motorists to use the A27, rather than seeking alternative local routes to avoid congestion around Arundel.
• support economic growth: businesses across the region will benefit from efficiency improvements and improved journey times, while the additional capacity that the route provides will enable local authorities to better manage the impacts of planned population growth.
• help cyclists and pedestrians: lower traffic levels on the existing A27 are likely to make the  route more attractive to cyclists and pedestrians. There will also be stronger  opportunities for introducing new dedicated facilities that can further encourage more walking and cycling in the area, including a continuous pedestrian/cycle path along the existing A27 around Arundel.

Having taken feedback from the public consultation into account, we have modified the design to address some of the concerns that were raised during the consultation:

To further improve safety:

• the junction at the western end of the bypass will be revised so that local traffic from Yapton Lane and Shellbridge Road will be clearly separated from motorists joining, or leaving the A27.

To reduce the environmental impact:

• the alignment of the route has changed slightly so that it crosses the River Arun further south than initially proposed. This will reduce the impact on the Tortington Priory scheduled monument.
• we are also revising the layout of the junction at the western end of the scheme to reduce the impact on ancient woodland.

You can see a fly through of the preferred route below.

To learn more about the preferred route, please see the documents below. For more information on the development of the project and to subscribe to our web alerts, please visit the scheme web page.

We asked for feedback an option to improve the A358 between the M5 at Taunton and Southfields Roundabout on the A303. To help analyse feedback received from the consultation the route was divided into two sections as follows

Section 1 – a new motorway junction and dual carriageway from the M5 to West Hatch

Section 2 – upgrading the remainder of the A358 along the line of the existing road to Southfields Roundabout on the A303

The public events were attended by 1,670 people and a total of 1,198 questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire responses received were primarily from members of the local community, with a number of statutory and non statutory bodies submitting formal reports and letters in place of a questionnaire.

When asked in the consultation questionnaire, ‘to what degree do you believe the scheme proposal has achieved the objectives?’ 53% of respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the proposals would meet the scheme objectives.

The results outlined above were largely attributed to Section 1 of the scheme. Many respondents wanted to see more options for connecting the upgraded A358 with the M5 and more solutions to alleviate the level of traffic through Henlade. There was less concern about the principle of upgrading the A358 along the route of the existing road for Section 2 of the scheme.

We analysed the results from the consultation and have concluded that, before selecting a preferred route, it would be beneficial to hold a further consultation on our scheme proposals, with more options for connecting with the M5.

We have published a report summarising the findings of the first consultation.

This report summarises how the first consultation was handled and the responses that were received. It does not include our response to them though. This will be included in a further consultation report, which will be written after the new consultation ended, and published when we make our preferred route announcement for the scheme. 

Fnd out more about the new consultation.

This is the 2017 consultation. For the 2020 consultation please visit the 2020 consultation page.

You can also visit the 2019 consultation page.

We asked for feedback on our proposals to improve journeys by creating a new dual carriageway and improve the Black Cat junction on the A1. 

We put forward four options to improve the route and 3 options to upgrade the Black Cat roundabout.

You can view our Report on Consultation and the Preferred Route Announcement in the 'Results' section below.

• More than 4,000 people took part in the consultation
• Over 90% agreed with the need to address congestion and improve journeys along this stretch of the A428
• Over 80% chose the Orange route. This was the most northerly of the three suggested routes, providing the best connections into St Neots. It was also the closest to the existing A428
• Around 60% of people preferred our proposals under Option C for the Black Cat Junction

We have chosen the Orange route and Option C as our preferred route.

We read and considered every response and comment you gave us and, together with the results of our technical assessments, used this to review and improve our initial proposals. 

We have adjusted the alignment of the proposed dual carriageway to allow for potential growth around St Neots, to take into account issues such as landfill sites and power lines and to address the response from local communities.

We have also reduced the height and visual impact of the new junction at Black Cat by lowering the A1. 

Together, the new carriageway and junction improvements will:

Offer quicker, safer and more reliable journeys

• By reducing congestion in the area, the scheme will improve journeys between Milton Keynes and Cambridge.
• We expect to cut the time of the average commute between the Black Cat and Caxton Gibbet junctions by more than a third, saving drivers around 10 minutes on their commute.

Unlock regional and local growth

• The new road will mean better connections into St Neots train station and town centre.
• These improvements will complement the development of a new high quality link road between Oxford and Milton Keynes, transforming connections and supporting housing and job growth across the wider region. 

Help life in local villages by putting the right traffic on the right roads 

• The scheme will reduce rat running on local village roads and remove long distance traffic using these roads as a diversion route.
• There will be around 4,000 less vehicles on local roads at peak times.

In addition, the route has the least impact on the environment, wildlife, designated sites and heritage sites out of the three options we presented.

You can find out more in our Preferred Route booklet and maps in the 'Results' section below.