Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert has made a written representation to West Sussex County Council today (21 October) urging them to back the Magenta route for the Arundel Bypass.

The Environment, Communities and Fire Select Committee met in Chichester this afternoon to consider the Council’s response to the Highways England consultation options for the A27 Arundel bypass. The consultation closes on Thursday 24 October

*** update *** West Sussex County Council’s Environment, Communities and Fire Committee chose to back Magenta as its preferred route.

Mr Herbert’s letter in full:

I am grateful to be able to submit my views on the Arundel Bypass in writing as I have to be at the House of Commons today.

I strongly favour a proper offline bypass which would deal with congestion at Arundel and take traffic away from the South Downs National Park.  

The Magenta route, which has been supported overwhelmingly by Arundel Town Council and Arun District Council, would reduce traffic in the Park by up to 84 per cent at Arundel and 27 per cent through the Downs.

This route barely touches the Park. Less than three quarters of a kilometre of the route would pass through it.   

By contrast, an ‘online’ route would mean 2km of the route going through the Park.  

In fact the existing route of the A27 goes through the Park, whereas a proper bypass would miss it.

An online route would mean a two-thirds increase in traffic going through the Park, whereas Magenta would mean more than a four-fifths decrease.

An online route would not be a bypass at all. It would sever Arundel unacceptably and affect between 120 and 142 properties - at least four times as many as Magenta.

The Grey route would miss the National Park altogether, but would be the most expensive and affect too many properties at Walberton.

And although the Crimson route would affect the fewest number of properties, it would go through more of the National Park and ancient woodland than any other. I do not believe it would be taken forward as the preferred route.

Some have urged a single carriageway road through Arundel. But that wouldn’t relieve the congestion on the A27 at all, and it’s not one of the options.

Others call for a tunnel, which is a lovely idea but another red-herring: it would be totally unaffordable and so it not an option either.   

Some would do nothing. But the problem won’t go away. With ever more local development, the volume of queuing and rat-running traffic will only increase.

There would be 28,000 more vehicles a day through the National Park at Arundel, and 23,000 more vehicles a day through the South Downs.

Stopping the bypass won’t stop traffic. It will simple mean ever more cars and lorries rat-running through the South Downs, through the villages, through historic Arundel, and through the National Park.

My judgement, as MP for Arundel & South Downs for over 15 years, is that the vast majority of local people want an offline bypass and believe that it is long overdue.

I therefore urge West Sussex County Council to back the Magenta route.

ENDS

Notes

1. To read everything Nick has been doing to secure an Arundel Bypass, including links to recent news articles, see https://www.nickherbert.com/arundel-bypass.

Nick urges County Council to back Magenta route for bypass