Alarming

The South Downs National Park has begun the New Year stating a very clear position on the A27 East Of Lewes.

“We need Highways England to consider all the evidence from the start,” says Andy Beattie, Countryside and Policy Manager who has been leading on the National Park Authority’s response to the A27. “Previous experience has taught us that if the special qualities of the South Downs aren’t flagged up when schemes are first thought of it’s much harder to get them taken seriously at a later stage.

“There are some good ideas amongst the proposals – for example creating an off-road route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders – but the junction designs look more suitable for a suburb than villages in a National Park. Crossing from north to south to get to the downs from the weald could be made much harder if the road is widened. But it’s the three options for a southern bypass at Selmeston, eight miles east of Lewes, which are most alarming.”

Read the whole thing here.

No thanks

It's heartening to track the plans for the A27 west of Lewes as well. Just before Xmas, new proposals  around Chichester hit mud. Chichester District Council, West Sussex County Council and Chichester MP, Gillian Keegan, met Highways England to discuss the two schemes, from the Build a Better A27 group.

The two - a 'mitigated' northern route and an improvements to the current line of the road south of the city - were judged by Highways England to be neither 'affordable or workable'.

Horse crossing

Happy New Year to all readers.

It's quite good to know that the improvements to the A27 East of Lewes, at £75m (minus £3m nciked by Grayling to 'prove' case for a dual carriageway) are moving forward. The Minor Works' team have been talking to the British Horse Society about how best to provide a horse crossing in the Wilmington junction improvements, and we are promised opportunities to review the plans soon.