Since the new financial year started earlier this month, I have been pleased to see for myself, the start of this year’s Highways Maintenance Programme that is being rolled out by West Sussex County Council. Across West Sussex with a significant amount in Crawley, a £32 million programme of investment in highways and transport is being undertaken, including a very welcome and unprecedented level of new investment in road and footway repairs.
We will be seeing carriageway improvements and repairs, pavement repairs, road safety improvements, and schemes to tackle flood issues. In Crawley over the coming year, there will be over 90 individual schemes that will benefit all parts of our town.
We’ve already recently seen some of Crawley’s major A-roads being resurfaced and more will be done very soon, including the west-bound carriageway of the A2011 Crawley Avenue from the M23 roundabout to the Hazelwick roundabout. Some of the local improvements we’ll see this coming year are resurfacing of the Balcombe Road in Pound Hill and major improvements to the cycle path along Southgate Avenue going into the town centre. We will also be seeing a major road micro-asphalt surfacing programme for many Crawley streets this year, including for thirteen local roads in Northgate, eleven local roads in Tilgate, eleven local roads in Southgate and nine local roads in Three Bridges. All Labour County Councillors from Crawley voted against this year’s additional Highways investment at the Council’s Budget meeting in February.
Crawley’s road network is important for everyday travel and our economy. Having good and safe road surfaces with traffic free-flowing as much as possible is better for the environment. While I personally try to drive as little as possible (especially now as reducing our use of petrol will help European countries cut oil supplies from Russia sooner and defund Putin’s war machine), I am very much against the Labour mantra of seeking to punish motorists by making journeys take longer and reducing parking provision, in order to discourage driving. The balanced and Conservative approach is to make improvements for motorists as well as for walking, cycling and buses.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
28th April 2022
