On 4 Oct 2010 at 8:51pm Kevvy wrote:
I would just like to applaud the hard grafting work men, who today had packed up and gone by 3 o'clock, really made the hour tailbacks worth it.
On 4 Oct 2010 at 11:51pm Smiler wrote:
Why don't we do like every other country and carry out this sort of work at night?
On 5 Oct 2010 at 12:08am MC wrote:
And it's going to be 11 weeks min. What a joy.
On 5 Oct 2010 at 9:38am Helenium wrote:
Absolute chaos yesterday evening....people coming West though Lewes to avoid the by-pass...DON'T DO IT...IT WON'T SAVE YOU ANY TIME...it was backed up from the Ashcombe roundabout back to the prison and into town 
On 5 Oct 2010 at 9:56am Helen Back wrote:
Took me over an hour from Brighton marina to Tesco in Lewes last night. Normally 20 minutes. The work has to be done so we just have to suffer.
On 5 Oct 2010 at 11:20am Mystic Mog wrote:
What are they actually doing to the road?
On 5 Oct 2010 at 11:57am Ratty wrote:
From the Highways Agency website:
The Project
Road users on a section of the A27 near Lewes in East Sussex are set to benefit from a new emergency gate that will help keep traffic flowing during roadworks and following incidents.
The gate will allow a contraflow to be set up quickly and easily on the A27 Lewes Bypass between the Ashcombe and Southerham Roundabouts should one side of the road be closed.
At the same time, important maintenance work will be carried out on the nearby Southerham Railway bridge, which carries the A27 over the East Coastway railway Line. Safety barriers on the bridge will be upgraded, kerbs will be replaced and the central reservation will be re-waterproofed.
Safety barriers along the road are also being upgraded to make them safer for motorcyclists.
The work is actually three separate road projects and by carrying them all out at once we aim to keep traffic disruption to an absolute minimum.
Traffic Management
The work will take eleven weeks, and will get underway on Friday 01 October. Work will start near the Ashcombe roundabout, and then move to bridge in November. One lane of each carriageway will be closed past the work site throughout the project. Work will be suspended, and all restrictions removed for the Lewes bonfire in November.
There will be some overnight closures of the A27 in both directions, between the Ashcombe and Southerham roundabouts, for the traffic management for the contraflow to be installed.
These will take place from Friday 01 October to Monday 04 October, and from Monday 01 to Tuesday 09 November, between 8pm and 6am, when traffic flows are lower.
Clearly signed diversions will be in place during the closures. Road users travelling westbound will be diverted from the Beddingham roundabout, via the A26, A259 and A270. Eastbound traffic will be diverted along the same route in the opposite direction.
On 5 Oct 2010 at 6:02pm Bill wrote:
So it sounds another pointless waste of time that will inevitably cost people money and time sitting in traffic. Why couldn't they have done this "brilliant" idea when they did the roundabout and traffic lights e.t.c. The A27 has become the nightmare of Sussex whereas is should be an accessable and useful road link to places. We just had the Beddingham Flyover completed, yes it was required and has improved traffic flow, The traffic lights and lane expansions were necessary but why couldn't they have done this new project at the same time. If this was Spain, this work would be done within 3 weeks guaranteed.
But no it will take 11 weeks but is that a suprise to anyone when they don't start until 11 and clock off by about 3.
And we are paying their wages.
On 5 Oct 2010 at 6:13pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
If this was Spain, it probably wouldn't pee down with rain all day long, either.
I'd have gone home early too, if I had to work outdoors in this weather.
On 5 Oct 2010 at 6:37pm Fred wrote:
ACT they are paid to work in these conditions, if they had any sense they would have started the roadworks sooner or they should have waited until after the wet season.
I think what Bill mean't by his comment was that why should our country be any different? If they put the hours in it would be done alot sooner, but knowing the roadwork projects in East Sussex it will probably be done wrong and have to be torn up in a couple of months
On 5 Oct 2010 at 7:33pm Yeah but.... wrote:
If they started earlier and finished later the traffic would move even slower than it is now and would be back logged for a heck of a lot longer!!! Simples!!
On 6 Oct 2010 at 1:44pm King Cnut wrote:
All this shows is that the original flyover was c*cked up. Regular tailbacks before this set of roadworks just proved that the £ms spent and 2 years of roadworks were wasted.
And this new gate will only divert traffic back into lewes.
If the green idiots hadn't got involved we'd have a nice dual carriageway across the whole of sussex. Instead we have one the worst routes in the country, from Hastings to Chichester.
On 7 Oct 2010 at 8:24am despairing wrote:
Do people realise that from 1 - 9 Nov. traffic will be ' diverted 'through lewes from 8pm until 6 am excluding Bonfire? Lewes is not the official detour for the works but it is ofourse the 'direct' route sat navs and HGVS will select - as they all did last Saturday night!
The only people to have been notified ( by letter ) are those on the official route who will not as the Highways Agency and East Sussex C have admitted be affected.'Crumbs' - as they said - will be advisory notices at the entrances to Lewes.
I was advised that since we live in times of austerity only limited money could be spent on advertising this invasion - never mind the fact that the budget for road works would have been struck months ago and that the cuts are not yet in place ...and that they have advised the wrong punters...
The Converation Officer takes the point about the threat to historic buildings in the town but feels his voice will not be heard. Much like ours - especially since we have had minimal publicity. It was said that I should check the Highways website regularly - just in case!
Disdain is a word tha comes to mind! Living on the route will be a nightmare during that time. All night HGVS!! Front bedrooms will be uninhabitable - pity the old and the sick.
Really, I despair.
On 7 Oct 2010 at 1:56pm Old Cynic wrote:
Its only for a few nights, we have to put up with HGV's 24/7 on the A26 - so welcome to our world!
On 7 Oct 2010 at 7:46pm Hay Nonnie Mouse wrote:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a bloody mess, adding 30mins on my journey both ways, I can't even be sure I'm going to make it on time and I'm leaving earlier and earlier I HATE THE BLOODY HIGHWAYS AGENCY, they could have done it in the summer when everyone is on holiday and the schools are out when there is half the amount of traffic, but no, when everyone has to get to work and back they throw 3 sets of roadworks in once, virtually cutting Lewes off. They could work overnight so as to shorten the length of the road works or keep it out of the day time entirely. But no they finish at 3 PM!!!!!! I'm so Flippin' angry Am I the only one that's so flippin' angry???
On 7 Oct 2010 at 8:38pm Peter Byron wrote:
This is a goverment directive, they done the same thing in the 30's and built the Hoove Dam. Annoying all across Sussex and further beyond I suspect. Pete. Hey Noonie, it is annoying, why not get a cd in the car, a great play or something that you would not normaly have time to listen to, just a suggestion to lower your blood pressure my friend. Good Luck.
On 8 Oct 2010 at 7:30pm Hey Nonnie Mouse wrote:
Good idea Peter, I'm might just do that.
On 8 Oct 2010 at 10:06pm MC wrote:
I left Brighton at 5.00pm today to find the A27 backed up all the way from Lewes to Brighton (that's 9 miles!). Un*****believable. Don't the Highways Agency have any idea about accommodating main flow times? This is a truly crap department (and the top managers have just got pay rises, whilst they reduce the wages of the minions... or make them reapply for their jobs).