Fishbourne roundabout should be grade separated before any new development which uses the A259 to reach Chichester is approved. This is because both Highways England and West Sussex County Council in their preferred options for A27 improvements have identified that grade separation at Fishbourne roundabout is required to meet future demands.

In the traffic study supporting the Local Plan Review there are no comparisons between the traffic and delays which are experienced now with what is forecast for 2035 which is the forecast year in the study to evaluate the impacts of the proposed developments and traffic mitigations.

The transport study improvements and mitigation are claimed to resolve capacity issues. It is not known if this is only achieved through increased rat running through the local area including Fishbourne residential streets (Salthill Road in particular) compared with the existing situation, i.e if it is assumed in the traffic model that there is rat running taking traffic away from the A27 junctions especially Fishbourne Roundabout which reduces the need for improvements at Fishbourne Roundabout.

The at grade improvements identified in the local plan review are clearly inadequate as evidenced by the detailed traffic assessments carried out by Highways England and their consultants and West Sussex County Council and their consultants.