Donnington residents will be hugely disadvantaged by proposed changes to A27 access arrangements under Policy S23 and the Peter Brett Associates report - effectively no access to Donnington unless they use the new link road and double back on themselves. Residents of, in particular, Hunston and Mundham, but also Pagham and the wider Manhood Peninsula who would previously have turned right at Stockbridge and Whyke roundabouts will need to use local back roads through Donnington to reach their destinations, increasing traffic levels on unsuitable rural roads. Traffic travelling along the A27 wishing to access the City from the east will have only two points of entry, (Fishbourne roundabout or Bognor Road roundabout), compared to the current 4 accesses. Important infrastructure such as the train and bus stations are reached most easily by these roundabouts so this will add to journey times to these destinations. Residents of Queens Avenue in Donnington have a direct access onto the A27 next to the Stockbridge roundabout. Under these proposals, when travelling east, they would need to travel to Bognor roundabout to return home.
The additional queuing times generated by traffic lights vs roundabouts at Stockbridge and Whyke junctions will lead to increased levels of pollution in an area which, in the case of Stockbridge, is already an established Air Quality Management Area. Policy DM24 & SP28.
The Peter Brett Associates (PBA) report states in the Executive Summary:
Air Quality (page xvii) that ..."Within existing AQMAs, with the Local Plan traffic in place, there are no predicted exceedances of NAQOs."
In Appendix G: Air Quality Assessment of the same report, Tables 4.1 and 4.6 show that the levels of NO2 at Stockbridge have consistently exceeded maximum levels since 2012.
On page xvi of the Executive Summary, Table 1 shows that Stockbridge ranks 5th in priority of construction. Therefore, it will be many years before any expected improvement in Air Quality at Stockbridge.
At 4.99 the Plan Review acknowledges that the work required to assess the impact of traffic movements through the city as a result of development and the junction improvements proposed has not yet been undertaken. It is premature to promote these junction improvements before the wider impact is understood and mitigation established.
Each of the five junction modifications will require three years of work. This means 15 years of misery for Chichester residents whilst the junction works take place. We all remember the chaos caused by the replacement of one footbridge in Stockbridge, bringing gridlock to the area. (Policy S23 and Peter Brett Associates Transport Assessment)
Overall, the plans for improvements to the junctions are to the advantage of through traffic not local residents. The proposals bear a marked similarity to Option 3a from the Highways England Improvements to the Chichester A27 Bypass consultation, which were emphatically rejected by the local community - in Donnington and across the whole of Chichester. (Policy SP23 and Peter Brett Transport Assessment). These improvements need to be re-thought.