A27 road
The
A27 is a major
road in
England. It runs from its junction with the
A36 road at
Whiteparish (near
Salisbury) in the county of
Hampshire. Heading east it closely parallels the south coast where it passes through
West Sussex and terminates at
Pevensey in
East Sussex.
The road starts at its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish. It runs through
Romsey,
Swaythling and
West End, Hampshire. It then closely parallels the south coast and travels on via
Fareham,
Cosham,
Havant,
Chichester,
Arundel,
Worthing,
Shoreham-by-Sea,
Brighton,
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.
Between Chichester and Lewes, 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.
After leaving
Worthing the A27 passes through
Lancing and crosses the
River Adur near
Shoreham. It then runs through the
Southwick Tunnel and follows a path bypassing the rear of
Brighton where it meets the
A23 road.
East of
Lewes the A27 meets the
A26 road. From this point the road is largely single-carriageway apart from a 2.7
km bypass for
Polegate which opened in 2002. A high accident risk site and cause of traffic congestion is the
Beddingham Level Crossing, just east of Lewes. The South Coast Multi-Modal Study proposed a dual-carriageway bypass, but the Highways Agency has opted for a cheaper single-carriageway. Subject to the results of a public inquiry, construction should start in mid-2006.
At Pevensey, the road ends, and the South Coast Trunk Road transfers over to the
A259, this coast road starts in
Chichester and shadows the route of the A27.
*
Spinnaker Tower*
Chichester Cathedral*
Arundel Castle* The
South Downs*
River Adur*
Sussex University*
Firle Beacon*
A259 road*
A24 road*
A23 road*
A26 road*
A3 road*
A32 road*
M3 motorway*
TAB-MSAS: Roads Photos: A27*
BBC News article on new subway at Falmer*
BBC News article on speed trap at Falmer
