Concerned Chichester resident reacts to A27 Oving Junction works

Jack Arnold from Chichester has expressed his concerns following the beginning of works to the A27 Oving Junction.

He said “The report of a A27 Portfield spokesperson saying that the flow of traffic being improved due to the works taking place I believe is a fine example of being economical with the truth.

“The flow along the bypass will undoubtedly be improved, but to the serious detriment of flows of traffic in many other places.

“It seems to me that the relevant authorities’ primary aim has always been to facilitate traffic bypassing Chichester.

“The existing bypass is not a proper bypass since it passes only half-a-mile from the City centre, but for reasons we can only guess at, the relevant authorities have been and are being denied the option of taking the bypass well to the north of Chichester.

“So perhaps they are meeting local opposition to the proposed changes to the southern route with gradualism.

“In which case The Oving Junction is only the first to suffer. Next will perhaps be the Whyke roundabout and so on.

“If this speculation turns out to be well-founded, the ramifications for local residents and businesses are extensive and, i suspect, mainly negative.

“For instance, if I were a Chichester shopkeeper, a shareholder in the company owning the West Wittering carpark or our Member of Parliament, I would be worried.”

The works to Oving Junction seek to improve capacity on the A27 by restricting movements to reduce delays for through-traffic along the Chichester Bypass.

These infrastructure upgrades are part of the wider A27 Portfield scheme, which includes works to the Chichester bypass, Westhampnett bypass, Portfield Way, Shopwhyke Road and Oving Road.

The works form part of the planning permission for the Shopwyke Lakes development, a scheme which will see the creation of 585 new homes and community facilities at Shopwyke Lakes.

The work at the Oving junction has been highly controversial.

National Highways, previously Highways England, in March 2021 made a traffic regulation order (TRO) as part of plans to close the Oving lights despite a petition against the proposals, which was signed by more than 3,300 people.

Speaking at the time, Oving resident and campaigner John Marchant-Brodie, said: “If they close the Oving lights they are immediately cutting off a whole community from accessing Chichester without having to travel through a bottle neck.”

All of the diversions are available as printable maps, at www.a27portfield.co.uk/diversions

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