The A27 is a major

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish (near

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

) in the county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, follows the south coast of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, and terminates at

Pevensey Pevensey ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of Eastbourne, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part ...

(near

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

and Bexhill) in

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

. It is the westernmost road in Zone 2 in the UK road numbering system. Between

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

, it is one of the busiest trunk roads in the UK.

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 Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

via the M25 took 2 hours 30 minutes, and via the coastal route using the A259, A27 and M27 took 3 hours 50 minutes. The reason 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 Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larg ...

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...

and

Polegate Polegate is a town and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, United Kingdom.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It ...

. The British government announced, in its 2013 spending review, that it would go ahead with improvements to the Chichester bypass. The Highways Agency said that the proposals would be subject to public consultation in July 2015. The preferred route would then be announced in September 2015 and the plan would be to start construction in February 2018 with a completion date of December 2019. However the timescales were then revised. There was a six-week public consultation period during Spring 2016. The proposed construction would then commence in March 2019 with a completion date of March 2021. After five options were published and two dropped the government cancelled the whole project on 28 February 2017, citing lack of support from local authorities as the main reason. Chichester Bypass is now scheduled to be included in "RP3". A proposed scheme to bypass Lancing and Sompting (as well as other sections) was dropped in 1988. 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. However, the scheme was relaunched in Spring 2018 when

Highways England National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all f ...

announced their preferred route, choosing a "a modified version of Option 5A". Although the document claims 48% of respondents support this option, there are worries that the new road may damage ancient woodland in the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hamp ...

. With protests about the western end destroying an ancient woodland, Highways England consulted further in October 2019 and in October 2020 announced a new preferred route that is long and avoids the South Downs National Park and ancient woodland entirely. It is due to be put before the planning inspectorate in 2022; if successful, construction will begin in 2023-2024 and it would be open in 2025–2030. At

, 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 A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal commission in that ...

, the plan was dropped in 1996 following rising costs. Arundel and Worthing are both areas of known

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

during times of peak usage. Improvements at Worthing and Lancing are now committed under RP2. A bridge over the level crossing at

Beddingham Beddingham is an English village and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, at the junction between the London–Newhaven ( A26) and south coast ( A27) roads south-east of Lewes. The parish council joined with that of Glynde shortly ...

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. More works are taking place in 2019-2021 between Beddingham and Polegate to improve the safety at junctions and provide an off-carriageway cycle track for the entire length. Lewes-Polegate has been included in RP3 for a new offline limited access route. Despite the limited improvements to the A27, it is still substantially quicker (usually more than an hour difference) to travel from Southampton to Margate via the M25 route compared to the coast route of A259, A27 and M27. 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. Highways England commissioned a report by " Transport Focus" to undertake road user priorities. The South Central route, that is largely the A27, was one of the lower rated routes with 50% of users experiencing problems. Out of a list of strategic routes across the whole of England only two were rated worse than the South Central route: the M25 to Solent route (61%) and the London Orbital and M23 to Gatwick (58%). Further Highways England identified the A27 between Lancing and the A24; between Arundel and the A284; between the A23 and Polegate; also around Chichester as being some of worst performing links in the country for safety issues. One accident victim was Actor

Desmond Llewelyn Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn (; 12 September 1914GRO Register of Births: DEC 1914 11a 490 NEWPORT M. – Desmond W. Llewelyn, mmn = Wilkinson – 19 December 1999GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 2000 A70E 247 EASTBOURNE – Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn, D ...

, who portrayed Q in a large portion of the James Bond film series and was fatally injured in a car accident on the A27 in 1999, at Firle, on the A23 to Polegate section. There are several sections of the A27 that fall inside the Highways Agency nationwide top 250 collision rankings: * A27 between Shoreham-by-Sea and Southwick – ranking 123 * A27/A23 junction Brighton – ranking 158 * A27 near the junction with the A2025 near Lancing – ranking 158 * A27 Chichester By-Pass east of the city – ranking 202

Shoreham Airshow crash

At the Shoreham Airshow on 22 August 2015, a

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Ro ...

crashed into the A27, striking several vehicles and killing eleven people. The road was completely closed for eight days and did not fully reopen until 16 September 2015.

Description

The road starts at its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish. It runs through

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the ...

, Chilworth, at which point it follows a Roman Road, Swaythling, West End and Bursledon. It then closely parallels the south coast and travels on via

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

, Cosham, Havant,

, Lancing,

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on t ...

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Falmer Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles (8 km) north-east of the former. It is also the site of Brighton & Hove Albion's Falmer ...

and

where it then terminates at

. A section of the A27 running from the eastern end of the M27 to the end of the road at Pevensey forms part of, what was known as, the ''South Coast Trunk Road''. Much of the road has been improved to

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

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 A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

alignment with grade-separated junctions. This is perhaps a reflection that the M27 was once proposed to run as far as Chichester. The road runs east from Portsmouth to Havant then on to the

Warblington Warblington is a suburb of Havant, a town in Hampshire, England. Warblington used to be a civil parish, and before that was part of the Hundred of Bosmere. Etymology In Saxon times there was a farm ( OE: ) possibly owned by a woman cal ...

/ Emsworth exit. Beyond Warblington the dual carriageway east has no junctions in it until it reaches Chichester, where the by-pass has five roundabouts and one traffic signal controlled junction, that disrupt the mainline flow of the road. The Chichester by-pass is regularly subject to congestion and although a public inquiry has proposed improvements, those improvements are currently on hold. East of Chichester the road largely retains a two-lane dual-carriageway standard. There are, however a couple of sections of single-carriageway; at Arundel and at

. These are both areas of known

during times of peak usage. At the junction of the A27 and the A24, the A27 has a brief section where the road is designated 'A27' and 'A24' before continuing from the 'Grove Lodge' roundabout where the road is named "Upper Brighton Road". After

, the A27 passes Sompting on the Sompting Bypass before passing through Lancing where there are traffic lights and a roundabout which disrupt traffic flow. Just before the road crosses the

River Adur The Adur ( or ) is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river, which is long, was once navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large Saxon port, but by the 11t ...

near Shoreham via the 'Shoreham flyover' (constructed 1968-70), there is a traffic light-controlled intersection close to

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

and the headquarters of Ricardo plc which was the scene of the multiple-fatality

Shoreham Airshow crash On 22 August 2015, a former military aircraft crashed onto a main road during an aerial display at the Shoreham Airshow at Shoreham Airport, England, killing 11 people and injuring 16 others. It was the deadliest air show accident in the Unit ...

in 2015. After the 'flyover' over the Adur, the A27 then runs past the Holmbush interchange (Shoreham-by-Sea) and on through the Southwick Hill Tunnel, at that point entering the City of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

, traditionally (though no longer administratively) part of

. Later, it passes

— where it is known as the Brighton Bypass — and around the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

. The junction of the A23 and the A27 is often slow in the morning rush hour. It then passes around Falmer with this section of road having three lanes in each direction but loses the third lane later. When Brighton and Hove Albion play at home this section can become congested due to its proximity to

Falmer Stadium The Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium and also referred to as the Amex, is a football stadium in the village of Falmer, in the City of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. With a capacity of 31, ...

. The road passes into

proper just to the west of the Falmer junction. Afterwards, it passes south of

where it meets the A26 road to Newhaven. Here, the road becomes a

single carriageway A single carriageway (British English) or Undivided highway (American English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road has a s ...

standard and formerly crossed a level crossing until it was bypassed by a bridge which opened in 2008. The South Coast Multi-Modal Study (SoCoMMS) recommended a dual carriageway, but the Highways Agency built it to a cheaper single-carriageway standard. Plans are still proposed for upgrading this later. The road afterwards reverts to a dual carriageway with access to the A22, which provides links to

and

Hailsham Hailsham is a town, a civil parish and the administrative centre of the Wealden district of East Sussex, England.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Da ...

. The road then once again becomes a single carriageway near Pevensey, where the road ends, and the South Coast Trunk Road transfers over to the

A259 The A259 is a road on the south coast of England passing through Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and is the longest Zone 2 A road in Great Britain. The main part of the road connects Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Rye and Folkes ...

; this coast road starts in Emsworth and shadows the route of the A27.

Bexhill to Hastings link road

Work on the contentious Bexhill to Hastings link road commenced in early 2013 and was completed in late 2015. The road provides a more direct link from the A27 to the A28 road via the

A259 road The A259 is a road on the south coast of England passing through Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and is the longest Zone 2 A road in Great Britain. The main part of the road connects Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Rye and Folke ...

Landmarks on the route

Adur flyover road junction aerial photo Aug2009

* Spinnaker Tower * Chichester Cathedral * Arundel Cathedral *

Arundel Castle Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established during the reign of Edward the Confessor and completed by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War a ...

* The

* Shoreham Airport *

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

Lewes Castle Lewes Castle is a medieval castle in the town of Lewes in East Sussex, England. Originally called Bray Castle, it occupies a commanding position guarding the gap in the South Downs cut by the River Ouse and occupied by the towns of Lewes and Cliff ...

* Mount Caburn * Firle Beacon *

Long Man of Wilmington The Long Man of Wilmington or Wilmington Giant is a hill figure on the steep slopes of Windover Hill near Wilmington, East Sussex, England. It is northwest of Eastbourne and south of Wilmington. Locally, the figure was once often called the ...

Proposed developments

The National Highways Agency state on their website that the A27 is the only east–west trunk road south of the M25 and it serves a population of more than 750,000 people along the south coast. They also say that safety is a problem along the A27 with many accidents and incidents along its length. To improve its safety and serviceability they intend to make improvements to the road. This includes: * Arundel Bypass RP1/2 (2015-2025), The consultation period has closed. National Highways say that they will submit a planning application in 2022, with a decision to be made by the Secretary of State between 2023 and 2024. * Worthing & Lancing Improvements RP1/2 (2015-2025), improvements to junctions in the urban areas of Worthing and Lancing to increase capacity and improve safety. * Lewes - Polegate RP3 (2025-2030) There is also a recommendation to make the road a dual carriageway on an offline route. * Chichester Bypass RP3 (2025-2030) Chichester Bypass is on the shortlist of projects likely for RP3. The National Highways Agency intend to hold a comprehensive public engagement programme in 2023, where people will be encouraged to have their say.

Incidents

* In November 2022, during the outbreak of flooding, the road near Chichester, Emsworth and Havant was extensively covered with floodwater. 20 cars were trapped on this section of the road.

Junctions

{, class="plainrowheaders wikitable" , - !scope=col, County !scope=col, Location !scope=col, mi !scope=col, km !scope=col, Coord !scope=col, Destinations !scope=col, Notes , - ,

, , 0 , 0 , , -

, , - , rowspan="9",

, rowspan="2",

, 8.5 , 13.7 , , -

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

, Ringwood,

Ower Ower is a hamlet in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest towns are Totton – approximately to the southeast, and Romsey – around to the north-east. Ower lies on the A36 road northwest of Totton. It lies mo ...

, Cadnam,

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, , - , 9.3 , 15.0 , , -

, Stockbridge , , - , — , 10.3 , 16.6 , , -

, Nursling,

Rownhams Rownhams is a village in Hampshire, England, situated just outside the boundaries of the City of Southampton, to the north-west. It is in the civil parish of Nursling and Rownhams. Rownhams services is a nearby service station on the M27 motor ...

, Lordshill , , - , rowspan="4" ,

, 15.1 , 24.3 , , -

M3 -

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Eastleigh,

, , - , 16.6 , 26.7 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , , bgcolor="ffdddd" , - Eastleigh, Southampton Center , bgcolor="ffdddd" , You need to take a detour along Stoneham lane and the A335 to continue along the A27 , - , 19.9 , 32.1 , , -

Bitterne Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, England. Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the bittern, but probably from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words ''byht'' and ''ærn'' together mean ...

, Botley,

Hedge End Hedge End is a town and civil parish in Hampshire, England. Situated to the east of the City of Southampton, it adjoins the districts of West End and Botley. Hedge End lies within the Borough of Eastleigh and is part of the Southampton Urba ...

, , - , 21.2 , 34.2 , , -

- Woolston , , - , rowspan="2" ,

Park Gate Park Gate is a locality in the Borough of Fareham in Hampshire, England. It merges into Locks Heath to the south, Segensworth to the east and Sarisbury to the west. Within the area are numerous shops, predominantly fast food outlets and estate ...

, 24.5 , 39.4 , , - Botley , , - , 24.8 , 39.9 , , -

, Titchfield, Warsash , Road splits into two branches , - , colspan="7" bgcolor="d3d3d3" align="center", ''North branch'' , - ,

, 25.2 , 40.6 , , -

, , - , colspan="7" bgcolor="d3d3d3" align="center", ''South branch'' , - , rowspan="2" ,

, rowspan="2" ,

, 29.1 , 46.8 , , -

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite ...

, , - , 29.7 , 47.3 , , - Alton, Wickham , Road splits into two branches , - *Ceremonial Counties ;Coordinate list

Notes

External links

Society for All British Road Enthusiasts Route Description - A27

TAB-MSAS: Roads Photos: A27

BBC News article on new subway at Falmer

BBC News article on speed trap at Falmer

Traffic delays on the A27

Highways Agency A27 projects page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2-0027 Roads in East Sussex Roads in Hampshire Roads in West Sussex Roads in Wiltshire Roads in England