The Transport Secretary has today (Monday 1 December) announced up to £250 million of funding for a new dual carriageway bypass of Arundel, linking together the two existing dual carriageway sections of the road. Previous plans for an Arundel bypass were cancelled in 2003.
The new bypass will complete the “missing link” between the two existing dual-carriageway sections, running on the previous preferred ‘pink-blue’ route, subject to consultation with the South Downs National Park Authority, local authorities and the publication of this and alternative options.
Nick Herbert MP said:
Along with all of Arundel’s elected representatives at the town, district and county council level, I continue to believe that the bypass is needed, and that an offline bypass on the previously agreed ‘pink-blue’ route is by far the best option. I am glad that this is the starting point for the consultation, and I do not support other proposed routes.
According to the Department of Transport’s Feasibility Study there are around 25,000 traffic movements through Arundel on the A27 every day, nearly 80 per cent of which is through traffic and not local. Sussex Enterprise have calculated that poor transport links in the county are costing £2 billion a year.