A27 Arundel Bypass

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.