Extra £1.5m to raise safety rating of dangerous A285
An executive order from West Sussex County Council gave the green light for an extra £1.5million to be allocated to the scheme last week after a successful bid for government funding.
County councillor Janet Duncton said the council was advised to apply for the funds after the road was listed in the top ten most dangerous roads in England for two years running up to 2016.
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Hide AdShe said: “We’re looking at the possibilities, we’re taking advantage of the fact the government has given the opportunity to look at improvements.
“I don’t think anything very dramatic is going to happen but at the moment highways are working on it.
“There’s no accounting for bad drivers, roads don’t come up and hit you, but if there’s anything about that road that needs to be done that’s what we’re about, is making the road safer.”
The £1.532million allocated this week is the second grant from the Department of Transport towards safety measures on the A285.
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Hide AdIn 2016, the road was identified as Britain’s persistently highest risk road by the Road Safety Foundation, with three fatalities that year along its 12-mile length.
West Sussex County Council will put out a tender for the works once highways officers have finished analysing the road and come up with details of what needs to be done.
Initial proposals include constructing a hardened carriageway edge strip, or haunching, along 12 kilometres of the road, along with other alterations outside of the 30mph zones.
It is hoped the scheme can raise the rating from an average of 1.7 stars out of five, to two, including improvements to a dangerous one-star rated stretch between Halnaker and Upwaltham.
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