History
Historically, for longer distance movement along the south coast, the M25 in combination with the M2, M20, M23 / A23, A3 / A3(M) and M3 has provided an attractive alternative to the actual south coast route of A259, A27 and M27. In 2002 an offpeak journey between Margate and Southampton via the M25 was 2 hours 30 minutes, and via the coastal route using the A259, A27 and M27 was 3 hours 50 minutes. The reason why the coastal route is so much slower than the M25 alternative, is largely due to a series of bottlenecks on the A27. These include Chichester, Arundel, Worthing and East of Lewes.
Proposals to improve the Chichester by-pass are on hold.
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 original proposal called for a dual carriageway standard link with a bridge over the crossing. However, the actual project involved improving the original single carriageway road by providing two lanes westbound and one lane eastbound between the Southerham and Beddingham roundabouts.
Despite the limited improvements to the A27, it is still substantially quicker to travel from Southampton to Margate via the M25 route (2hr 43m) compared to the coast route of A259, A27 and M27 (3hr 48m).
Because of all the delays along its route, according to West Sussex County Council, the A27 is the most unreliable all purpose trunk road in England. Further it is widely considered, by businesses on the coast, to cost money and inhibit economic performance due to its unreliability and frequent congestion. However proposals by central government to allow private sector financing to improve major roads may be a possible solution to the A27s demise.
Actor Desmond Llewelyn, who portrayed Q in a large portion of the James Bond film series, was fatally injured in a car accident on the A27 in 1999.
Read more about this topic: A27 Road
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