Key South Downs road to remain shut 'for foreseeable future'

West Chiltington Road – a key route between West Chiltington and Pulborough – is shut at Panners Drive following flooding and severe damage to the road surface.

Now West Sussex County Council says recent heavy rain has prevented any progress on repairs. A spokesperson said: “Due to serious safety concerns the road remains closed to all traffic, including bikes, horses and pedestrians for the foreseeable future.”

In a statement yesterday (Tuesday), county highways experts said they are regularly checking the area to see if water levels have subsided. They have brought in other drainage specialists to also check the site.

Meanwhile, local residents and businesses are increasingly angry and frustrated at the lack of progress on repairs. The county council says it understands the frustration and ‘would like nothing more than to return West Chiltington Road back to normal.’

The spokesperson said: “We are checking the site most days, especially when we have had a few days of no or little rain, just to see if water levels have subsided and to ensure the site is safe. We will continue to do this until works can commence properly.

"We can undertake pumping works when the water volume is at more manageable levels but the sheer volume at this stage means it isn’t practical, which we appreciate is disappointing.

"We know that other options from the local community have been requested, such as temporary bridges or road plates. Both options come with risks and challenges and on balance we believe at this stage are not appropriate for this particular site.

“We have also brought in a number of other contractors and drainage specialists to review the works to date, the site constraints and the volume of water in question. We wanted to obtain a number of different opinions, just to make sure there wasn’t something they would raise that we hadn’t considered. They all agreed that our proposals and the actions to date were appropriate given the current constraints but we are disappointed that there isn’t more we can do.

“We have even thought about options to restrict water flow upstream from the site, and on private land, but as I am sure you can appreciate this would potentially cause private land owner issues and risk of flooding elsewhere, so this is something we want to avoid.

“We continue to undertake weekly inspections of the local roads that are being used as ‘rat runs’ as a result of the West Chiltington Road closure, raising any safety related defects that are identified for repair by our contractor.

“Finally we have asked the contractor to review the signage associated with the closure and the diversion route, to ensure everything is where it should be and can confirm that this happened late last week.

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“We understand how frustrating this situation is but we are all acutely aware of the issues that the closure brings and will do our very best to resolve and reopen the road as soon as is practical.”

Meanwhile, the council says it is aware of damage being caused to nearby Stream Lane by increased traffic and is urging drivers to follow designated diversion routes.