1 Scheme overview
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is currently developing a major road enhancement scheme for the corridor of the A259 between Bognor Regis and Littlehampton in Arun District. The scheme is one of the short-term major road enhancements with active travel infrastructure priority schemes in the current West Sussex Transport Plan.
In late 2021 the Department for Transport approved the business case for the scheme and provided grant funding to the County Council to develop the scheme up to the point of an Outline Business Case and planning application submissions. However, funding has not yet been secured for the next stage of scheme development and delivery.
The location of the scheme is between and including the B2132 Yapton Road (Comet Corner) junction and the B2187 Bridge Road (Tesco’s) junction.
The proposal for Wick roundabout has been removed from the scheme following confirmation to construct the A284 Lyminster bypass scheme in summer 2022. The Ferry Road roundabout proposal has been replaced with a minor road realignment proposal due to site constraints and programming issues.
The key objectives of the scheme is to:
- enhance the conditions for walking, cycling and bus travel (and thus encouraging switch from car use) for non-motorised users
- improve road safety record and journey time reliability along the A259 corridor between Bognor Regis and Littlehampton
- increase junction capacity to support economic development including the delivery of strategic development sites identified in the Arun Local Plan.
2 Latest update
Following the completion of the outline design and associated scheme assessments for the A259 Bognor Regis to Littlehampton corridor enhancement scheme, the County Council has submitted the outline business case (or funding bid) to the Department for Transport (DfT) for review and approval. The outcome of the funding bid will not be known until sometime next year.
The County Council is currently undertaking ground investigations to help with the development of detailed design. The preparation work for the planning applications continues and it is anticipated that they will be submitted to the County Council’s Planning and Rights of Way Committee for determination in 2024.
Assuming the outcome of the funding bid is positive, the County Council plans to submit the full business case to the DfT in early 2025.
3 Public consultation documents
The online public consultation in summer 2021 concluded with a preferred option identified for each location along the corridor. Documents presented as part of the public consultation and summary results are available below:
4 Timelines
The indicative timelines for the scheme are as follows:
- Preliminary design, planning application and Outline Business Case submissions - late 2023.
- Outline Business Case review and approval (not guaranteed) by Department for Transport - early 2024.
- Detailed design and Full Business Case submission, subject to Outline Business Case approval - late 2024.
- Full Business Case review and approval (not guaranteed) by Department for Transport - early 2025.
- Construction commencement, subject to Full Business Case approval - middle of 2025.