Release date: 30 January 2023
The recent extreme weather has caused delays in the completion of West Sussex County Council’s A259 improvements scheme in Angmering and Littlehampton.
The £29.5m scheme, which will reduce congestion and improve journey times on the A259 in Arun, is now estimated to finish in April 2023, rather than early in the new year, as previously estimated.
A West Sussex County Council spokesperson said: “Recent severe wet weather, followed by freezing conditions, have affected roads across West Sussex including the improvements to the A259 Angmering/Littlehampton scheme.
“We realise this is disappointing news to our residents, businesses and anyone else using this extremely busy stretch of road but want to reassure people we are doing everything we can to complete the improvement project as soon as possible.”
The severe wet weather of the autumn and winter - across the last two months of 2022, rainfall levels were over double the average for that time of year - followed by the extreme cold, has meant that the stone used for road foundations was soaked and has now frozen. This means it cannot be properly compacted prior to the surfacing work.
Concrete cannot be mixed if there is ice in the aggregate and if temperatures fall below zero, it will not cure properly. When surfacing roads, the bitumen cools too quickly in severe cold weather, resulting in inadequate compaction and joints that are more likely to fail.
Once completed, the scheme will provide essential, long-term infrastructure improvements needed to support housing and commercial developments under construction north of Littlehampton and is one of the key aims of Our Council Plan - to help create a sustainable and prosperous economy.
