HS2: Plans to upgrade A259 to go from Bognor Regis to Southampton through Emsworth watered down

A previously promised upgrade to the A259 from Bognor Regis to Southampton, which runs through Emsworth, will now only be extended between Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. This is 45 miles less than the previous plans.

A total of £6.5bn is being invested into transport networks in the South East, with £290m being put towards 14 road schemes. It was confirmed in August that four of the nine upgrades to improve the A259 would not go ahead.

Speed limits were changed to provide motorists more consistent speed limits while travelling along the route, which aligns with West Sussex County Council’s policies on the matter.

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Discussing the South East investment, a spokesperson for the Department for Transport (DfT) told SussexWorld: “[There will be] access to a £2.8 billion roads resurfacing fund for the South East, South West and East of England to combat the potholes causing misery for drivers.

"A further £1 billion fund will be launched for new road schemes. The popular £2 bus fare will also be extended until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned.”

On Wednesday, at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, prime minister Rishi Sunak announced the widely expected axing of the HS2 project from Birmingham to Manchester – citing a doubling of costs for the project.

HS2 will end at Euston as planned, but others across the UK have accused the government of cutting down projects – with some describing the Network North rail plan as a “shambles”.

A pledge of “£100m for a mass transit system for Bristol” appeared in documents on the Government website on Wednesday but had disappeared a day later. Documents published on Wednesday revealed that the Leamside Line in Northumberland would be reopened using money saved by axing HS2 north of Birmingham, the Northern Echo reported.

According to the newspaper, a document listing benefits to the North East, and reference to the line, appeared to have been removed by Thursday. The newer version of the document instead said that the £1.8 billion allocated to the North East from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement 2 and HS2 funding “could part fund the reopening of the Leamside Line”.

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Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, said a number of Mr Sunak’s pledges had “already been promised” by previous Conservative governments.

“This plan is in disarray, and this shambles shows once again the Conservatives simply aren’t serious about delivering for the country,” she said. “Only after 13 years of failure could the Conservatives pledge to take two decades to deliver projects they’ve already promised.

“The truth is, catastrophic Conservative mismanagement has blown a hole in HS2 and after this fiasco, why should anyone in the North believe they can deliver anything they say.” Speaking about the Leamside Line, a DfT spokesperson said: “We are funding a new Ferryhill Station, and providing around £1.8 billion funding to the North East – an investment only possible due to the billions of pounds redirected from HS2.”