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Lord Rea: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Baker, for raising this matter. As he made clear, this is not merely a parochial Question. Like him, I declare an interest, since my cottage at Beddingham, which is sadly not a stately home, lies only a quarter of a mile south of the A27. In fact, within a mile of the 20-mile stretch of the road between Polegate and Brighton, as the noble Lord said, are the homes of 12 noble Lords, to my knowledge. The reason for that high Peer density is not far to seek: as the noble Lord pointed out, the landscape and the villages in it are uniquely attractive, and noble Lords have excellent taste. Two noble Lords, no longer in the House, own sizable chunks of that landscape.

However, noble Lords are not the only ones who cherish that stretch of countryside. The area is already classified as an area of outstanding natural beauty and, all being well, will shortly be upgraded to national park status. Every weekend trainloads, busloads and carloads of walkers come to enjoy the Downs, which are sometimes called the "lungs of London".

To declare another interest, I have been a member of the A27 Action Group for 10 years. It was set up originally to lobby against the major six-lane trunk road scheme parallel to the A27, linking the Channel ports to Honiton, there joining up with the M5. Together with the statutory environmental agencies we scotched that one, although the cost of the scheme and the possible change of government probably played a part. Since then the south coast multi-modal study mentioned by the noble Lord was carried out, with recommendations of dual carriageway throughout the A27 and several bypass schemes; but that was rejected in 2003. I regret, given its name, that the scheme did not recommend upgrading
 
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and modernising the south coast railway, so that freight, lorries and east-west road users could be attracted on to it, thus relieving some of the traffic on the road.

The Highways Agency, now back to the drawing board, is presently working on several schemes to cut bottlenecks at Chichester, Arundel, Worthing, Beddingham, Selmeston and Polegate. The Beddingham plan, as described by the noble Lord, is to build a bridge over the railway and enlarge the road from two to three lanes; that is the most advanced in time of those proposed improvements, with orders and an environmental statement expected shortly. But the public inquiry, due this year, may allow points such as those made by the noble Lord to be considered. I am sure that there will be other requests of Ministers to think again, too.

At present, along with other road users, I suffer the twice-daily heavy congestion into and out of Lewes. Paradoxically, though, I and others also find it very difficult to drive on to the A27 from my cottage or cross it, because of the speed of the relentless traffic at that point. Inevitably, as the noble Lord pointed out, there are many accidents at such junctions. I welcome the improvements proposed at the Beddingham railway crossing but fear that congestion will simply move up to the next roundabout.

There are some improvements, however, which could be made immediately and at low expense to smooth out traffic flow and improve safety. The first could be a speed limit not of 20 miles an hour but of 50 miles an hour on all single-carriageway parts of the road. That is in fact likely to speed up rather than slow down the overall traffic flow, apart from saving fuel and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. All access roads should work on the "left-on, left-off" principle, with sufficiently long lead-in access slip-roads to allow traffic time to speed up or slow down when joining or leaving the main road. There should be bridges or underpasses where appropriate for local traffic, and local lanes and byways should be retained. When road repairs are carried out, for environmental rather than safety reasons, the new surfaces should be made of sound-deadening material, which is now available, even at a slightly greater cost. Tyre noise, or "white noise", is disagreeable and greatly detracts from the enjoyment of the environment.

Purists in the A27 Action Group would like to leave things much as they are, apart from some safety improvements, so as to discourage further growth in road traffic. As a road user I do not share that view, but I hope that any improvements that are made will be, as the noble Lord said, done with sensitivity and with very good design. I hope that my noble friend can confirm that the original concept of a motorway-style six-lane trunk road parallel to the A27, linking the Channel ports to Honiton and beyond, has been firmly and finally abandoned. More freight and passengers could be carried on an improved rail link. Lorries and other through traffic should be encouraged to use the existing M20, M25 and M3 motorway system, which could be improved where necessary. It is actually only
 
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seven miles longer to Southampton from Dover using the motorways than it is going along the tortuous route of the A27.

Baroness Fookes: My Lords, I warmly support my noble friend in his robust plea for an improved A27, particularly between the Pevensey area and Chichester—although, as he pointed out, he did not dwell greatly on that western part of the road. I do not pretend to his intensive knowledge of the area, but I am a regular user of the road, partly. I suppose that I should declare a non-financial interest as a deputy lieutenant for East Sussex, which takes me frequently into the Lewes area. I also have friends who live outside Arundel and beyond Chichester. So, I have occasion to go from my home in St Leonards along the A259 to where it links with the A27 and thereafter along the A27 for what at times seems its endless length.

It is something of a Cinderella road—though I would not pretend to know who might be the ugly sisters trying to prevent the Cinderella road going to the ball. Certainly it is a somewhat dangerous road; I fully agree there. The trouble is that, for a lot of its single-carriageway length, there is nowhere where it is safe to pass. That does not prevent other motorists passing, and I have seen some near misses—fortunately not accidents—when motorists have been tempted and have fallen for the temptation to pass where they cannot possibly see. That is made worse by the up-and-down nature of the road, which at times restricts the view considerably. There is a real issue of safety here. I hope very much that the Minister will take due account of that.

As regards planning one's timing to go from one place to another, it is virtually impossible to know how long it will take. I always avoid the rush hours because that adds greatly to the journey, but even then it takes very little—perhaps a single breakdown, a very minor accident or a few road works—completely to throw a timetable out.

Going from my home to Chichester, for example, you are very lucky to do it in two hours. It might easily take two and three quarter hours.

Lord Baker of Dorking: My Lords, that is the situation after seven years of Labour government. I am not reproaching my noble friend but the Government.

Baroness Fookes: My Lords, I am glad to hear that.

There is ample scope for making improvements. A dual carriageway from the Polegate area to Lewes would be excellent. I would particularly welcome anything that did away with motorists having to go over the level crossing. I dislike level crossings; I always did, even before several terrible accidents involving level crossings. It seems to me that, as traffic flows grow and one is crossing a level crossing which is widely used by trains, it becomes more and more
 
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worrying. Frankly, I am always relieved when I have got over from one side of the Beddingham crossing to the other.

I put in a plea for the more western part of the road, particularly round Worthing and Arundel. In places, the roads are not simply single carriageway, they seem to me to be virtually country lanes. That is extremely worrying as traffic increases, as has already been pointed out by other noble Lords.

All in all, there is a case for moving forward on the issue with considerable rapidity, bearing in mind the delays that have already occurred. It seems to me that the Polegate to Lewes stretch has not changed much since I was a girl, and that is a very long time ago. I will not say how long, but certainly one would have expected some progress to have been made in those intervening years. I grew up in East Sussex, and it is a beautiful county. One does not want to spoil or alter the beauties of the countryside. However, it seems to me that road engineers these days have become extremely sophisticated in their ability to construct roads sensitively. If they were given the go-ahead, they could do so in this instance. The question that I hope the Minister will be able to answer tonight is, "Shall we see this in our lifetime, or will it be done long after my noble friend and I are dead and buried?".

Lord Dholakia: My Lords, I am delighted to contribute to this debate. It makes a change from speaking just on home affairs matters in your Lordships' House. I need to qualify why I am doing so. But before I do so, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Baker of Dorking, for initiating the debate. I agree entirely with the analysis that he offered of the A27.

When I came to Britain I settled in Sussex, first in Brighton, where I served as a county councillor, then in Haywards Heath and finally in Coldwaltham, which is situated in the foothills of the Sussex Downs. I know the county well and I frequently use the major roads comprising the A23, the A24 and A27. I therefore speak from a "user" perspective rather than from that of an expert on roads and transport.

Let me draw an analogy with prisons: the more you build, the more quickly you fill them. We have learnt through bitter experience that building better roads is important, but that alone does not solve traffic problems. There are so many other factors that we need to take into account and at the heart lies the need for a proper transport infrastructure for the country as a whole. We should add to that the need to protect the ecology and the environment of the area.

The noble Lord, Lord Baker, identified the stretch of the A27 between Chichester and Eastbourne in relation to the debate. I know this area well. As a former member of the Sussex Police Authority, and as a Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex, I frequently visit Chichester for meetings. In addition, I love the theatre and the cathedral of this beautiful city. My visitors always marvel at the beauty of the place. It is a joy to travel on the M27 from Southampton to Portsmouth,
 
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but suddenly it turns into a nightmare when one finds the bottlenecks at various places on the Chichester bypass.

There are many reasons for that, but let me single out two. The city's roads were built during the time of the horse and cart and there are substantial pedestrian areas within Chichester. The other reason is that many of the large retail parks are situated near the bypass, generating additional traffic. Add to that the prospect of a football match taking place at Portsmouth or Southampton and you can imagine the traffic that is generated on that road. On race days at Goodwood and Fontwell the situation is just chaotic. There is an obvious need to ask whether the bypass, which was designed to relieve traffic congestion, can handle all this traffic or whether we need to go back to the drawing board.

The same could be said about the picturesque town of Arundel. The town simply cannot handle the traffic generated and the so-called "bypass" becomes a nightmare. The bypass cannot handle the traffic either. Again, it is a question of two factors: the local traffic and the through traffic generated by the bypass. The only saving grace is that while you are stuck in a traffic jam on the bypass at Arundel you can pass the time by looking at the beautiful castle until such time as the way ahead of you is clear. Some most beautiful places such as Chichester, Goodwood and Arundel cry out for a sensible approach to traffic congestion.

Yesterday we heard the announcement of hundreds of thousands of new homes in the south east of England. It would be helpful to hear from the Minister what will be the impact on roads and local and through traffic in those areas.

A lack of public transport means more use of cars thus adding even more of a burden to our congested roads and, in this case, the A27. I was interested in the comment from the Campaign to Protect Rural England that:

"Sprawling estates, disconnected from jobs and services, which wasted land and generated more traffic should not be allowed".

Does the Minister agree with that comment?

There is no single consensus of what is appropriate so far as dual carriageways and motorways are concerned. There is, however, no dispute that there are serious danger points on many parts of the A27 which ought to be rectified without delay. Let me give an example. I received an e-mail today from Diana Kiehl. She sums up vividly what ordinary people think about the A27, particularly as regards the point when it passes through her area of Worthing. The e-mail states:

"A long standing problem exists on the stretch of the A27 which passes through Worthing. A very heavy volume of traffic becomes very slow moving due to the dual carriageway becoming a single carriageway and speed reducing to 30 mph through this urban area. At peak times this problem is really bad".

That story is repeated by almost all who use that stretch of the A27.

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