A27 road

A27 road
Major junctions
West end:	Whiteparish (near Salisbury, Wiltshire)
	M3 motorway A3(M) motorway M27 motorway M275 motorway A22 road A23 road A24 road A26 road A29 road A259 road A270 road A275 road A280 road A283 road A284 road A286 road A2025 road A2030 road A2031 road A2038 road A2270 road A3 road A32 road A33 road A36 road A334 road A335 road A3023 road A3024 road A3051 road A3090 road
East end:	Pevensey (near Bexhill, East Sussex)
Location
Primary destinations:	Southampton Fareham Portsmouth Chichester Littlehampton Worthing Brighton and Hove Lewes Eastbourne
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways • A and B road zones

The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish (near Salisbury) in the county of Wiltshire. It closely parallels the south coast, where it passes through West Sussex and terminates at Pevensey (near Eastbourne and Bexhill) in East Sussex.

Between Portsmouth and Lewes, it is one of the busiest trunk roads in the UK.

History

A proposed scheme to bypass Arundel was dropped in 2003 although the junction at the end of the dual carriageway has been partly made into an underpass.

At Worthing, where the possibility of a bypass has often been discussed since 1967, even getting as far as passing the inspector's report at a public inquiry, the plan was dropped in 1996 following rising costs. These are both areas of known traffic congestion during times of peak usage.

A bridge over the level crossing at Beddingham was completed on 22 August 2008. The project involved improving the original single carriageway road by providing two lanes westbound and one lane eastbound between the Southerham and Beddingham roundabouts.

Description

The road starts at its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish. It runs through Romsey, Swaythling, West End and Bursledon. It then closely parallels the south coast and travels on via Fareham, Cosham, Havant, Chichester, Arundel, Worthing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Brighton, Hove, Falmer, Lewes and Polegate where it then terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.

A section of the A27 running from the eastern end of the M27 to the end of the road at Pevensey forms part of the long-distance South Coast Trunk Road. Much of the road has been improved to dual carriageway standard, with the westernmost section of the trunk portion even having as much as four lanes plus a hard shoulder in each direction, and on a motorway alignment with grade-separated junctions. This is perhaps a reflection that the M27 was once proposed to run as far as Chichester.

East of Portsmouth, there are frequent roundabouts disrupting the mainline of the road, although the road largely retains a two-lane dual-carriageway standard. There are, however a couple of sections of single-carriageway; at Arundel, where a proposed bypass scheme was dropped in 2003, and at Worthing, where the possibility of a bypass has often been discussed since 1967, even getting as far as passing the inspector's report at a public inquiry, but was dropped in 1996 following rising costs. These are both areas of known traffic congestion during times of peak usage.

At the junction of the A27 and the A24, the A27 has a brief gap where the road is designated 'A24' before continuing from the 'Grove Lodge' roundabout where the road is named "Upper Brighton Road".

After Worthing, the A27 passes through Lancing and crosses the River Adur near Shoreham. It then runs through the Southwick Hill Tunnel, crossing into East Sussex where it passes into a narrow cutting.

Later, it passes Brighton and around the South Downs. This stretch of road often is slow in the morning rush hour.

It then passes around Falmer with this section of road having three lanes in each direction but loses the third lane later.

Afterwards, it passes south of Lewes where it meets the A26 road to Newhaven.

Here, the road becomes a single carriageway standard and, until 2008, crossed a level crossing until it was bypassed.

The south coast multi model study recommended a dual carriageway, but the Highways Agency built it to a cheaper single-carriageway standard. Plans are still proposed for upgrading this later.

The road afterwards reverts to a dual carriageway with access to the A22, which provides links to Eastbourne and Hailsham.

The road then. once again. turns into a single carriageway near Pevensey, where the road ends, and the South Coast Trunk Road transfers over to the A259; this coast road starts in Emsworth and shadows the route of the A27.

Landmarks on the route

• Spinnaker Tower
• Chichester Cathedral
• Arundel Castle
• The South Downs
• River Adur
• Lancing College
• University of Sussex (Falmer)
• Lewes Castle
• Mount Caburn
• Firle Beacon
• Long Man of Wilmington

Proposed developments

Bexhill to Hastings link road

Main article: A259 road

The contentious Bexhill to Hastings link road would provide a more direct link from the A27 to the A28 road via the A259 road.

Other proposals

• The A27 bypass around Chichester is subject to congestion on a regular basis. There has been a public inquiry to review the situation and a scheme proposed, however that scheme it is currently on hold.
• There is a plan to build a new road from Wilmington to Polegate.^{[citation needed]}
• There is also a scheme make the road a dual carriageway between Beddingham and Polegate.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

• 

  A27 near Beddingham, East Sussex

• 

  A27 near Pevensey, East Sussex

• 

  A27 near Brighton and Hove, East Sussex

• 

  A27 crossing the Adur flyover, near Shoreham, West Sussex

External links

• Society for All British Road Enthusiasts Route Description - A27
• TAB-MSAS: Roads Photos: A27
• BBC News article on new subway at Falmer
• BBC News article on speed trap at Falmer