A27 U-turn closure set to go ahead: Everything you need to know

Despite strong objection from the local community, including business owners, National Highways has decided that the U-turn at Hoe Court on the A27 at Lancing will be closed ‘following discussions with Adur and Worthing Councils and the developer’.

Bill Freeman, secretary of the Lancing Manor South East Residents Network, said last month that the 140 households and businesses who use this U-turn ‘unanimously object to its closure’.

Speaking at the time, he said: “They know it has had a good safety record for over 45 years. The New Monks Farm roundabout is already over capacity for traffic using the eastbound carriageway so this would be an additional two thirds of a mile on people’s journeys.

"It will have an impact on the environment and will become totally unsustainable. Such is the local opinion, 50 to 60 members of the local community have submitted objections to the National Highways consultation.”

After news of the final decision, Mr Freeman said: “The locally affected residents are furious at this outcome particularly with the lack of evidence and real transparency for the decision. They have learned that this closure could happen as early as August 2.”

The closure plans were launched following the creation of a new roundabout on the A27 east of Lancing. Following months of roadworks, the development by National Highways was completed last month to give access to the New Monks Farm development and ‘provide better links to Brighton City Airport’.

A National Highways spokesperson said: “The latest stage of work will include the closure of the Hoe Court U-turn, the traffic orders for which were recently advertised. We reviewed the objections and discussed these with Adur and Worthing planning.

"We also under took our own safety review and concluded that the scheme should be delivered as approved through the planning process."

The government-owned company said work on the new A27 junction is ‘progressing well’ and the latest stage of the work on the westbound A27 at Lancing is due to begin with overnight closures on Monday, August 7 and last until early September.

“The latest stage of work will include the closure of the Hoe Court U-turn which were approved following discussions with Adur and Worthing council and the developer.”

The new junction on the A27 is being constructed by The Community Stadium Ltd, which is the developer of the New Monks Farm site.

The developer will be ‘required to implement’ full traffic management measures ‘to the approval of National Highways’, prior to works commencing on the existing carriageway.

Mr Freeman said residents and businesses – who use the U-turn ‘multiple times daily and know that it is not an unsafe junction’ – should have been better consulted about the plans

“There was no opportunity given for comment,” he said. “The closure was not even identified as being considered in the final approval notice.

“The developer had confirmed that, subject to safety/traffic assessments, they were happy for it to remain open.

"The local Lancing Manor SE Residents Network have responded to ask for that further evidence to support their decision with Freedom of Information requests to be provided to give more transparency on the documentary evidence that the developer wants it closed and for the report of their engineers who have advised on its closure. Once again, the residents in the existing community feel they are being failed yet again by an authority.”

Adur Residents Action Network chairman Barbara O'Kelly reminded National Highways, ‘as a government body’, that it has a ‘duty to prioritise the health and environmental impacts of its decisions’.

She added: “Both the Climate Change Committee and the United Nations have expressed concerns that the UK is not meeting its targets on carbon emissions. Any proposal to change road infrastructure surely must put the environmental impacts at the top of the agenda.

"The decision to close the A27 U-turn at Lancing has taken no account of the additional over 12 tonnes of carbon and the 40,000 additional vehicle miles it will generate annually.

"The decision will add two-thirds of a mile for those who currently use the U-turn, needing to access the westbound carriageway.

"There will be increased air pollution created along this already very polluted stretch of road, particularly at the busy roundabout with three phase traffic lights.

"The Withy Patch community, sited by the roundabout and two other link roads, will be particularly affected. For environmental reasons alone National Highways should reconsider their decision on the closure of this gap.”