Massive Crowd At A27 Meeting

Over 250 people attempted to attend Monday, 29 September 2014 the Arundel Town Hall meeting called by Arundel SCATE (South Coast Alliance for Transport and the Environment) following West Sussex County Council's (WSCC) lead role in promoting their desire to dual all the remaining single carriageway sections of the A27.

Despite there only being room for 90 in the room, such was the demand for information an impromptu meeting / discussion could be heard going on downstairs in the lobby of the Town Hall.

Some will know the long and torturous history stretching back into the late 50's of the various plans to accommodate the ever increasing traffic on the A27, but two sections of the road - Arundel and Worthing have been impossible to sort out.

Here we will deal with Arundel also see where a bypass - some call it a relief road - was built in the 60's in an attempt to remove traffic from the historic town centre. However due to some might say was the myopic decision to dual long sections of single carriageway either side of Arundel more traffic was attracted to it. The result the bypass is no longer seen by some as able to cope and something has to be done.

The meeting was lead through the various alternatives that Arundel SCATE had found out were being discussed by WSCC, The Department for Transport and various other bodies. Those alternatives can be put under the headings of: In-line routes. Of-line routes and a scheme comprising of a On-line + Public Transport + Cycling + Walking solution.

The Of-line route that involves a viaduct over the Arun valley and a surface road through the ancient Binstead woods complex, and favoured it seems by WSCC caused most concern amongst residents in the room. At a show of hands 99.9% of them had visited the woods during the past 12 month's and of those only one person was seen to support driving a road through the woods.

Although it would seem this section of residents were solidly against that Of-line route, the worry is will WSCC and the powers at be listen to them!