Better Roads for Tilgate & Furnace Green

Better Roads - coming to a road near you

In the final fortnight of my County Council re-election campaign last year, I put out a leaflet saying my number one priority was getting our local roads sorted out in Tilgate and Furnace Green. These were not idle words - I meant it.

In late April last year, we were still in the grip of the coldest spring ever recorded. A snowy March and freezing April had played havoc with our roads and exceptionally cold ground temperatures were stopping repairs from taking place.

We also had dozens of Brown’s Lorries going through Tilgate and Furnace Green every day to the golf driving range as well as to the railway embankment works via Norwich Road. We had two house building sites, one at Furnace Drive and another at Weirbrook.

There were the new streetlights in various stages of being installed in Furnace Green and also gas pipeline works digging up the roads in various places. There was a exceptionally large amount of heavy vehicles on our local roads and our aging local road network generally was looking muddy and crumbling. This was not exactly the ideal backdrop to seek re-election as a County Councillor.

Unfazed, I made the promise in my leaflet that my number one local priority was sorting out our local roads. Soon after my re-election, Weald Drive and Furnace Drive were patched and surface-dressed. That was always planned but had been held up by the cold weather.

The real difference came last summer. Unlike some Councillors from other parties who sit around complaining and who deliberately falsely claimed in a local newspaper that Crawley gets less Highway funding than Chichester, I was determined to actually help solve the problem.

 

Therefore, I spent a significant amount of time working with a group of County Councillors from elsewhere in West Sussex on our shared aspiration of getting our roads in West Sussex to a condition where the need to fill potholes becomes minimal - reversing a trend going the other way.

 

We came up with the Better Roads Programme. This two-year £30 million of investment is on top of the annual £8.5 million programme. This work started in April, is being done is phases and is picking up a pace now summer is here.

Today I received notification that the following Crawley roads will be surfaced-dressed in the next few weeks with road closures needed. Residents will be informed exactly when it is happening. In green is Furnace Green and in blue is Tilgate. There will be the resurfacing programme to come which includes Southgate Avenue and Haslett Avenue East.

We have brought in the Better Roads Programme without putting up Council Tax for a fourth successive year. 

      

Length of Road in Crawley	Length of Closure
Arden Road	From its junction with Furnace Drive to its junction with The Glade
Ashburnham Road	From its junction with Weald drive to its junction with Warnham Road
Greenacres	Throughout its entire length
Rillside	From its junction with Forest View to its junction with Weirbrook
Ringwood Close	Throughout its entire length
Sylvan Road	From its junction with Weald Drive to its junction with Furnace Drive
Waterlea	From its junction with Weald Drive to its junction with Greenacres
Dickens Road	Throughout its entire length
Gresham Walk	Throughout its entire length
Oxford Road	From its junction with Winchester Road to its junction with Worcester Road
Shackleton Road	From its junction with Tilgate Way to its junction with Loppets Road
Winchester Road	Throughout its entire length
Ditchling Hill	Throughout its entire length
Fairway	Throughout its entire length
Forester Road	From its junction with Mason Road to its junction with Southgate Drive.
Furzefield	Throughout its entire length
Gasson Wood Road	From its junction with Acturus Road to the Breezehurst Drive roundabout
Grattons Drive	From its junction with Worth Park Avenue to its junction with St Catherines Road
Harewood Close	Throughout its entire length
Kingscote Hill	Throughout its entire length
Leighlands	From its junction with Grafton Drive to its junction with Milton Mount Avenue
Maiden Lane	From its junction with Stagelands to its junction with Langley Drive
Mill Road	From its junction with The Birches to its junction with New Street
The Millbank	Throughout its entire length
Park Way	From its junction with Chaucer Road to its junction with St Marys Drive
Pine Close	Throughout its entire length
Salvington Road	Throughout its entire length
Wainwrights	Throughout its entire length
Warren Drive	From its junction with Ifield Avenue to its junction with Ifield Drive
Waterfield Gardens	Throughout its entire length