A27 East of Lewes

Latest updates

• 22 June 2023

  Scheme complete

  To mark the end of our scheme, we’re delighted to announce the winner of our bridge naming competition.

  Congratulations to Tracy Styles – the new ‘Rampion Bridge’ carries our 13km shared-use path over the Cuckmere River and pays tribute to the Sussex county flower which can be seen across the South Downs countryside.

  We held a special event on Friday 16 June to celebrate the end of our scheme and talk with local people about the improvements we’ve made both on and off the road along the A27.

  Our things to see and do guide shows you some of the local attractions and places to visit.

  Finally, we would like to say thank you to everyone for bearing with us while we were in construction and hope you will enjoy the benefits of our scheme for many years to come.

  For more news and information about our work across the south east, visit our website.

• 09 June 2023

  Come and meet us

  Our improvements along the A27 East of Lewes are now complete.

  We’re holding an event on Friday 16 June to celebrate and announce the winner of our bridge naming competition.

  Our new bridge for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders goes over the Cuckmere River and forms part of the new 13km shared-use path between Firle and Polegate.

  If you would like to learn more about the changes we’ve made along this stretch, you can come and meet us at the new benches between the bridge and Milton Street from 1pm to 3pm.

  We look forward to seeing you there.

• 15 May 2023

  Competition now closed

  Thank you to everyone who took part in our bridge naming competition.

  We were delighted with the number of responses we received to name the new bridge over the Cuckmere river. Our judging panel will begin the process of selecting a worthy winner who will be notified within the next couple of weeks.

  Keep following our updates for more information.

• 02 April 2023

  We’ve finished… it's competition time!

  Our work along the A27 between Firle and Polegate is now complete.

  The improvements we've made will reduce congestion, connect communities, and create safer journeys for everyone. Our new 13km shared-use path is also open and safe to use.

  

  Bridge naming competition

  We’re looking for a name to call our new bridge over the Cuckmere River and want to hear your suggestions.

  Your name might be inspired by something you’ve seen along the way but must be connected to the local area.

  The lucky winner will receive a certificate and have their chosen name displayed on the bridge for everyone to see.

  Click here to enter

  The competition closes at 5pm on Friday 12 May 2023.

• 21 December 2022

  December update and local school visit

  We've completed most of our improvements along the A27 between Firle and Polegate and our new path is on track to be open and safe to use by spring 2023.

  In the last 6 months, we've

  • installed a new footbridge over the Cuckmere River
  • Created a new 45m² wildflower verge in Berwick
  • Completed nearly 7km of our shared-use path
  • Installed more than 10km of new fencing. 

  What happens next?

  We've still got some surfacing work to finish which will involve some overnight closures and temporary traffic lights. You can find details about this at the top of this page.

  School visit

  Year 8 pupils from Ratton School Academy Trust visited our site in November 2022 to learn about different roles in the construction industry.

  The group managed to get outside, see some of our equipment and spend some time with the team. The trip offered valuable insight into the skills needed for the workplace, plus a tour of what we’ve been doing to improve journeys and safety between Firle and Polegate.

  

• 27 October 2022

  New wildflower verge

  

  As part of the finishing touches to our scheme, 600 wildflower plugs (young plants) have been planted at Station Road in Berwick.

  Although you won’t see much over winter, by spring we can expect to see swathes of colour in our new 45m² wildflower verge.

  Watch our quick video on Facebook to learn more.

  Thanks to go local resident Jim, who nurtured the plugs and came up with this idea, Chaffin Works, Hercules Site Services,MLP Traffic LTD, the site team at VolkerFitzpatrick and volunteers.

  We cannot wait to see the results!

• 09 September 2022

  Polegate Bypass - overnight lane closures

  We’ll be doing some white lining and surfacing works between Polegate Bypass and Gainsborough Lane.

  Lane closures will be in place in sections between Polegate Bypass and Gainsborough Lane from 8pm to 6am from Monday 26 September to the morning of Saturday 1 October 2022

  At least one lane will remain open in each direction at all times. Please take care when travelling through works and leave extra time for your journey.

• 19 August 2022

  Overnight works - temporary traffic lights

  We’ll be doing some extra work on our path between Firle and Polegate.

  To do this, two-way temporary lights will be in place in sections from Milton Street to Middle Farm between 8pm to 6am on the following dates.

  • Monday 22 August to the morning of Friday 26 August 2022
  • Tuesday 30 August to the morning of Saturday 3 September 2022

  Please take care when travelling through works and leave extra time for your journey.

• 08 August 2022

  New footbridge

  Our new footbridge over the River Cuckmere was installed ahead of schedule. Teams worked through the night to get the bridge in place which arrived in one piece.

  The road between Drusillas Roundabout and Milton Street is now open, however please check updated road closures at the top of this page.

  

• 25 July 2022

  Enhancing the environment

  Did you know? We’ve created 3,550 metres of shallow drainage channels, known as swales, along most of our shared-use path.

  

  Swales are used to direct water from the road where it collects into pools before soaking away. They also provide additional habitat corridors for species such as Great Crested Newts.

  Drainage or retention ponds help protect the natural environment by managing levels of heavy rainfall and stormwater. Three new ponds have been created to help local wildlife flourish across the route – two of these have been specifically designed with Great Crested Newts in mind.

• 18 July 2022

  Work in Wilmington – Update

  Thank you to everyone for their patience during the night closures for our new path construction through Wilmington.

  We were able to complete the path and the new road surfacing through Wilmington Junction as planned by Saturday 16 July.

• 16 June 2022

  New path milestone reached

  

  We've almost finished half of the new 13km pathway between Firle and Polegate and expect it to be fully open for use by the end of 2022.

  3,025 new trees and 32,000 plants will be added along the route and three new ponds have been created to reduce flood risk and provide new habitats for wildlife.

  Read more in our latest newsletter

  We’re working to finish as soon as we can, however the path must remain closed for now to keep all road users and our team safe.

  We’ll let you know as soon as we’re ready to open.

  Subscribe to receive updates

• 31 May 2022

  Protecting the local environment

  We’re working closely with Natural England, local councils and the South Downs National Park to design the best route for our new path which runs next to the A27 from Firle to Polegate.

  We’ve carried out ecological surveys to identify habitats and understand as much as we can about how to work around certain species. There are several European Protected Species in this area including bats, dormice and great crested newts. We apply for licences from Natural England which set out what we must do to protect wildlife when working close by.

  

  Did you know?

  The life cycle of a dormouse follows a yearly cycle. This means we can plan our work to match the pattern of these creatures and not disturb them.

  Ecologists carried out surveys to determine if there are any suitable habitats nearby. Licensed ecologists search in vegetation by hand, looking for signs of wildlife, whenever work is taking place.    

  We make sure that we replant and provide suitable habitat where it was removed. There are several areas along the route, like Berwick, where new hedgerow planting will provide broadleaved woodland. We’re also building and improving ponds to improve habitats for protected species and other animals in the area.

  Managing trees

  We surveyed all trees along the route.
  
  Trees that showed bat potential were individually inspected. If bats were found, we applied for a licence. If no bats were found, we continued with vegetation clearance.
  
  All nesting birds are protected. No work can be done on trees that have bird nests, active nests or if the feedings have not left. Our team waited for nesting rooks to move on near Polegate at the end of September last year.
  
  

  Ash dieback

  Ash dieback is fungal disease that affects the common ash tree. While we don’t survey trees for this, we know it’s quite a problem and there are trees on the route that have it. Trees in woodlands with high proportions of ash are likely to decline more quickly.

  This means that some trees must be cut down - so you when you see us taking trees down it may be because of this.

  We’ve worked with local landowners to reduce the impact on local trees and woodlands. In some places, we removed trees infected with ash die back to stop the disease from spreading.
  
  We’ve also removed trees where there is a danger of them falling on to the path to keep everyone safe. 

• 29 April 2022

  What's coming up

  Berwick update

  Our work at Station Road in Berwick is progressing well and we are on target with our timing. We should have all tasks done and the new surface laid in time to have the road fully open in time for the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend.

  Station Road diversion route

  Night work

  We are having to lay sections of the new path where it is next to the A27, using two way lights at night. From next Tuesday 2 May until Friday 13 May, we will be between Drusillas roundabout and Alciston. We are sorry for any inconvenience.

  Wilmington – A reminder

  We’re now able to complete the new path through Wilmington and we’ll be working next to the A27 from Monday 16 May until Friday 15 July 2022.  We’re going to have to work at night here as daytime work would cause too much traffic disruption.  We’ll be using temporary traffic lights and working for five weekday nights from Monday to Saturday morning.  Between Monday 4 July and Friday 15 July 2022, we’ll be laying a new road surface. We will have to close the road overnight from Monday to Saturday morning and a diversion will be in place.

  Diversion route