(Position at December 2023)
Advance notice of traffic lights - delays expected
From Monday 8 January 2024 works will be taking place on the A284 adjacent to the new Lyminster Bypass. There will be some disruption to traffic as a result, Jacksons Civil Engineering will keep this to a minimum where possible.
It is anticipated the traffic signals will be in use intermittently from Monday 8 January until May 2024. The 2-way traffic lights will be present on the southbound carriageway between 9.30am until 3.30pm, Monday to Friday. Please note, the traffic management will not be present on the road at all times during this period.
We appreciate at this time of the year, there are other roadworks and temporary closures in the surrounding network, and we have worked closely with our Streetworks team to minimise the impact, but if we were to delay this work further, it could lead to even longer disruption in the future.
Traffic Management will be updated on the website as well as on West Sussex County Council’s Highways Twitter account @WSHighways.
Background
The A284 is an important north-south link road from the A27 at Crossbush, providing access to Littlehampton and, to a lesser extent, Bognor Regis.
Journey times and accessibility are affected by the Wick level crossing, which causes delays to traffic in both directions and can impact on the junction with the A259.
The bypass is proposed to improve safety and accessibility as well as contributing to regeneration in the Littlehampton and Bognor Regis areas.
The proposed scheme
West Sussex County Council is responsible for delivering the northern half of the Lyminster Bypass, which will alleviate traffic issues through Lyminster village.
The bypass will link to the existing A284 from a point approximately 600m south of the A27 at Crossbush and join the privately developed section of the same proposed bypass at Toddington nurseries.
The proposed bypass will be a 7.3m wide single dual carriageway with verge on one side and a shared footway/cycleway facility on the other. The footway/cycleway will connect to existing and proposed facilities along the southern half of the bypass and A259.
The existing public bridleway will be maintained with a Pegasus Crossing, provided to ensure the safety of equestrians, cyclists and pedestrians.
A new viaduct will be constructed over Black Ditch and its associated flood plain to ensure that there is no increase in flood risk. The existing culvert will be extended at Brookfield Stream.
Surface water run-off from the proposed construction will discharge at greenfield run-off rates via the existing catchments.
As far as is possible, the scheme will be constructed off-line from the existing road network to minimise disruption to road users during the works.
Benefits of the bypass
The benefits of constructing the proposed bypass encompass both local improvements and strategic objectives.
Locally, the bypass will alleviate traffic congestion through Wick and Lyminster. This will improve safety and the reliability of journey times as well as decreasing pollution levels through the village.
More strategically, the bypass is linked to the provision of 1,260 new homes and 700 new jobs.
With the improved cyclist and pedestrian facilities, it is hoped that more people will be encouraged to undertake local trips on foot or by bike.
Public engagement
A public consultation exercise was undertaken in September 2014 with 61 per cent of respondents in favour of the scheme, although it is noted that 31 per cent did not support the scheme and the remaining 9 per cent did not express an opinion.
Residents were also consulted on two options for the tie-in of the existing A284 to the proposed bypass with:
- Option 1 (the most northerly option) selected following results of 51 per cent in favour
- Option 2 favoured by 11 per cent, whilst 28 per cent had no preference and 10 per cent responded ‘don’t know’.
Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO)
Following the advertising of a Compulsory Purchase Order and Side Roads Order for this scheme, a Public Inquiry was held in August 2021. On 16 September 2021 the Secretary for Transport gave notice he had confirmed both orders with modifications.
Business case
There has been approval from the Department for Transport of the funding bid for £11.8m.
If you require an accessible version please email mark.martin@westsussex.gov.uk.
Archaeology
Archaeology works on site were completed in December 2022.
- Archaeology newsletter 1 (PDF, 776KB)
- Archaeology newsletter 2 (PDF, 1.3MB)
- Archaeology newsletter 3 (PDF, 1.2MB)
Programme
Main construction works commenced on 24 October 2022 and the scheme completion is currently forecast for Autumn 2024.
Monthly construction updates
- Monthly progress update 1 (PDF, 123KB)
- Monthly progress update 2 (PDF, 144KB)
- Monthly progress update 3 (PDF, 143KB)
- Monthly progress update 4 (PDF, 877KB)
- Monthly progress update 5 (PDF, 836KB)
- Monthly progress update 6 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Monthly progress update 7 (PDF, 774KB)
- Monthly progress update 8 (PDF, 352KB)
- Monthly progress update 9 (PDF, 529KB)
- Monthly progress update 10 (PDF, 728KB)
- Monthly progress update 11 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Monthly progress update 12 (PDF, 642KB)
- Monthly progress update 13 (PDF, 1.4MB)
Construction
The viaduct
Current activities are:
- steel reinforcement work on the bridge
- concrete pours.
Between the existing bridleway and the ancient hedgerow to the north
Current activities are:
- footpath has been surcharged
- surfacing is ongoing
- drainage works for northern pond.
North of the ancient hedgerow
Current activities are:
- drainage works installing pipes to connect manholes
- drainage pipes to divert culvert water flow (over pumping).