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More road works on the Chichester bypass |
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Written by coder
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Thursday, 04 January 2007 |
Work will start next week on a major scheme to add a third entry lane to one of the busiest A27 roundabouts on the Chichester bypass.
The £190,000 project is designed to improve safety and traffic flows from the B2145 Hunston Road where it meets the Whyke roundabout.
The work is due to start on Monday January 8, and is being paid for by the Highways Agency and undertaken by its main contractors InterRoute.
However, before the actual road improvement work can start, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) will be laying ducts for future electricity cables through the site.
That work is expected to take about three weeks. The roadworks will then begin, and are due to be completed in a further six weeks.
At the same time, SSE will continue their duct laying further southwards to connect with the electricity sub-station near the Pagham Road roundabout.
The ducts will enable SSE to install a 33,000 volt cable, which will provide an additional supply to Network Rail for their railway that runs through Chichester.
The company is also using the opportunity to install two new 11,000 Volt cables, which will be required in the next few years when the public electricity supply to Chichester is upgraded.
By combining these two projects the overall period of disruption to traffic will be reduced by about five weeks.
During most of the 10 weeks, Hunston Road will be restricted to one way in a northbound direction between the entrance to a former Convent and the Whyke Roundabout.
Southbound traffic will be diverted via Stockbridge Roundabout, the A286, and the B2201 through Donnington to rejoin the B2145 at Sidlesham.
Pagham bound traffic will be diverted via Green Lane and Hunston, and bus routes will be diverted via Vinnetrow Rd.
The reason for the partial closure is to avoid the danger and delay to A27 traffic that would result from long queues across Whyke roundabout if temporary traffic signals were used.
The southbound closure and the diversion are planned to come into force at 9.30am on Monday, January 8.
The northbound section is to remain open to minimise extra delays to traffic from the Manhood Peninsular on its way to join or cross the A27 each morning.
Whenever safe to do so, two lanes of entry onto the roundabout from Hunston Road will be open during peak times.
However during road surfacing operations over one weekend in late February, the part of Hunston Road through the site near Whyke roundabout will be closed in both directions.
Over this short period northbound traffic will be directed to follow the same diversion route as southbound traffic, but in the reverse direction.
For the final two weeks of the works, Scottish and Southern Energy should be working far enough away from Whyke Roundabout for the road to be fully open, but controlled by temporary traffic signals between 9.30am and 4.30pm each day.
Lieutenant Colonel Tex Pemberton, West Sussex County Council's Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: "I am very pleased that InterRoute are not only improving safety at this part of the Whyke Roundabout but also putting in a scheme that will bring about a much needed traffic capacity improvement.
"It should go a long way to reducing the delays motorists currently experience on the Hunston Road each morning."
Fliss Drewitt, Highways Agency Deputy Team Leader said: "The Highways Agency is working closely with West Sussex County Council to ensure minimal disruption to both the road users and residents throughout the duration of these works."
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 03 June 2007 )
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