A259 Upgrades No Longer Set To Go Ahead

Thursday, 3 August 2023 18:42

By Karen Dunn, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Four of the nine upgrades proposed for the A259 between Bognor Regis and Littlehampton will not go ahead.

The scheme of enhancements, which include improvements to a number of junctions, active travel and bus priority provisions, was put out to public consultation in the spring.

Based on the feedback received, West Sussex County Council will now spend £3.419m of capital funding on the development of a full business case to be submitted to the Department for Transport.

The updated scheme will include:

- New roundabouts with active travel and bus priority measures at the Comet Corner and Oystercatcher junctions;
- Additional active travel and bus priority measures at the Church Lane roundabout;
- A new roundabout with active travel measures at the Ferry Road junction; and
- A new left turn lane and active travel measures on the Bridge Road approach to the Bridge Road roundabout.

In addition, speed limits along the A259 corridor will be changed to provide a more consistent speed limit that aligns with the county council’s speed limit policy.

The decision to approve the new package of improvements was taken by Joy Dennis, cabinet member for highways & transport, on Thursday (August 3).

She also delegated authority to Matt Davey, assistant director for highways, transport & planning to deal with the preparation of the business case, find construction contractors, and submit all necessary planning applications for the work.

A report from Mr Davey said:

"The main aims of the scheme are to support delivery of the Arun Local Plan by enabling the delivery of new homes and jobs, to improve journey times along the A259 and to provide network resilience to the A27 Strategic Road Network."

The public consultation, which took place between March 13 and April 23, saw a total of 393 people attend six public events, with 217 questionnaires and feedback being received.

That feedback placed the Comet Corner and Oystercatcher proposals at the top of the priority list.

The four proposals which did not make the cut were: a pedestrian traffic island across the Grevatt’s Way section of the A259 to allow people to cross between Public Rights of Way paths 165 and 166, a new left turn lane into the Baird’s Business Park, a new link between path 206 and the Bridge Road footpath/cycleway, and active travel measures at Clympwick Bridge.

Councillors have until Monday August 14 to call in the decision for further debate.