The first full day of roadworks on the A27 Brighton bypass was due to get under way today (Tuesday 8 April) after a week of safety preparations by putting barriers in place.
And drivers can expect delays for the next two months, with a 50mph limit due to remain in place until the scheduled end date for the scheme – in June.
The last of the temporary barriers was due to have been put in place yesterday, closing the outside lane – or lane 2 – on both sides of the road.
National Highways, the agency that maintains and repairs motorways and trunk roads, said: “We need to do drainage, barrier replacement and resurfacing works on the A27 between the Patcham Interchange and A270 Lewes Road.”
Last week, drivers reported delays from 45 minutes to more than an hour at times – and today the A23 had to be resurfaced urgently just north of Pyecombe after a crash, adding to the hold ups.
But the work is deemed necessary and is expected to cost between £2.5 million and £3 million.
National Highways said yesterday: “The current phase of this drainage and resurfacing work on the A27 involves removing the central reservation barrier.
“But we can’t do that until temporary barriers are fully established on both carriageways so that we can do that work safely.
“We have been installing these barriers overnight which is why your readers may not have seen any works during the daytime.
“As we instal the barriers on each carriageway, we need to close off lane 2 to do so, which is what your readers will have seen during the day.
“The barrier was put in place on the eastbound carriageway last week.
“Work was paused overnight on Wednesday to minimise disruption around the Brighton and Hove Albion football match before beginning work to instal the westbound temporary barrier which is due to finish today (Monday 7 April).
“The lane 2 closures will then remain in both directions while we work, day and night, on the central reservation.
“During this time, lane 1 (the inside lane) will be open in both directions but with a narrower lane and a reduced 50mph limit.
“A free recovery service is also available for any incidents or breakdowns.
“The current estimated finish date is Friday 6 June.”
The roadworks cover just over two miles of the A27 on one side and a mile and a half on the other.
The difference reflects the shape of the road and the junction layouts when working out where to start and end the barriers.
Why can’t they install the barriers during day and night, such a big delay for everyone having 2 lanes closed and this is going on for a long time too. Surely there is a much quicker and efficient way to do this without the lengthy closure
They are. It says it in the article. Maybe you should learn to read competently. Might calm you down a bit
I think you yourself need to drive along there, even with someone else driving if you don’t own a car yourself, to see what the problem is.
This is one major traffic f*ck up, on a route where drivers have no alternative. And the work is so badly organised. Incompetence on show.
You don’t see us being efficient because you are all asleep! Of course it’s three blokes and a bucket at the moment. It’s the usual disjointed mess we excel at. Lives will be lost and the issue is years of neglect
“We have been installing these barriers overnight which is why your readers may not have seen any works during the daytime.”
I was referring to this part. I’m super calm dude, thanks for your concerns.
On behalf of those of us needing to commute each day along this route – in my case with tools and materials in the works van – I’m going to say how disappointing and annoying this works plan is.
A simple journey from Hove to Lewes now takes at least double the time, so my working day is now nearly 12 hours – but with no extra pay to cover that loss of my time.
You can try and bypass the works section of the A27, but that means going through the city centre, adding to the congestion there, and invariably being held up even longer.
Could you leave your van in Lewes and do the commute by train.
And if your full day is now nearly 12 hours, what was it before, and is the slight extension to your commute really the issue?
No, because I’m working at a country house in a village that is not served by public transport.
Plus I need to use the van to pick up materials on the way in each day – as is typical for any tradesperson.
Did you notice the bit where he says he has tools and materials in his van? Try getting that lot on a train single handed and then to it’s final destination. Those who advocate public transport instead of cars rarely consider that cars and vans are essential for many people. They are also often talking from a position of living somewhere like central London or Brighton where it’s easy to access bus or train services. You only need to go a short distance out and public transport is either non existent or not viable due to limited services or unsuitable routes.
The answer to these complaints is not to suggest car and van users switch to alternatives – because if a cheaper, more convenient, less stressful method of transport was available to them don’t you think they might already have considered it? There’s way too much stick and not enough carrot in this country. If you build a universally accessible integrated transport system serving all towns and villages at lower cost and similar travel time to using the car then drivers would flock to it in droves……. it won’t happen though because for all the talk among politicians about encouraging less car use they really don’t want that – it’s far more beneficial for the country’s finances to keep squeezing the cash cow and fleecing motorists every which way they can.
As Brighton continues to wage war on drivers it’ll be interesting how easy it is to get a plumber or electrician or other tradesman to come out to your property in future – they’re not going to arrive either by bus or by bicycle.
I commute to Worthing each day from Brighton and the amount of disruption this has caused already is infuriating.
I dread to think what it’ll be like when roads are back to normal commuting volumes after the Easter break.
It pushes traffic onto dyke road which is also subject to temporary traffic lights at the moment.
I do not understand why a better contingency plan or phased approach hasn’t been considered. With the marine drive works ongoing this is increasing rat running, pushing up local pollution and delays.
It only affects patcham to Lewes road so you should miss most of this. Alternatively couldn’t you get the train while the work is on. So you don’t add to the problem
Drove through there about 1.30pm. There where only 3 guys not doing a lot. At that rate it maybe June but which year definitely not 2025. This happens constantly on our road network. The highways authority seem to be having a laugh at our expensive. Of course i nearly forgot they dont work in the office anymore they work from home. Of course it doesnt affect them.
This sector of the economy is as corrupt as anything. The working practices and length of time it takes them to get the work done is continually appaling. The time it took them to do the ‘improvements’ near Lancing College. Now this. Realistically, how long should it take to do these works with modern machinery and techniques? As a builder close to retirement age, it should not take any more than 10 working days. Shocking and corrupt. Whose back pocket are these endless brown envelopes going in? Comparable to the Mafia.
Well said
Whoever signed off on that should be sacked. Meanwhile on 23 and 25 they aren’t allowed to put the first cones out till about 9pm, works start at around 10-11 if they are lucky with traffic count and have to be off by 5am to guess what, avoid absolute traffic chaos.
If they can do it on M23 and M25 (and A27 when they were doing it at Portsmouth) they can do it here
It’s taken all this time just to put in the barriers? Seriously? Unbelievable. Did they just have one worker doing the job? And now weeks of hell. Only in England.
1.20pm Friday 11th April. Counted 5 workers total. They are taking the Micky.
It’s taken nearly 3 weeks to close a couple of lanes and put barriers up. Typical NHA planning.
2 weeks of plastic cones with absolutely no work being carried out and no concrete barriers in place.
No wonder it’s gonna take 2 months just to replace a bit of drainage and surface a bit of tarmac.
And as for the 50mph speed zone, drivers don’t help themselves and slow traffic up. Merging seems to be a war zone every time I go past. No one wants to let anyone merge and creates a longer queue with speeds down to less than 10mph.
The works should take place during the day and night to get it done faster. It could be done in potentially half the time. Also, doesn’t this cost more at night with night rates?