Driving and Roads around Bognor Regis

A259, A29 and connections to the A27

Bognor Regis sits on the A259 coast road and is connected to the A27 and the wider road network by the A29, which runs north through Westergate and Fontwell to join the A27 near the racecourse. These two roads define the driving experience in the area. The A259 provides the east-west coastal route, while the A29 is the main route inland to the A27 and beyond.

The A259 runs through the Bognor area from Chichester in the west to Littlehampton and Worthing in the east, passing through Felpham and the northern edge of the town. This road carries a significant volume of traffic, particularly during the summer when holiday traffic adds to the regular flow. It is a single carriageway for most of its length through the area, and congestion at junctions and through the built-up sections is common during peak hours.

The A29 runs north from Bognor through the villages of Westergate and Lidsey to connect with the A27. This road is the primary route for anyone heading to Arundel, Worthing, Brighton or the M23 and M25 beyond. The A29 is a busy road that carries a mix of local traffic and through traffic, and the section between Bognor and the A27 can be slow during rush hours. Plans to improve this corridor have been discussed for years, with the Bognor Regis relief road addressing some of the congestion on the approaches to the town.

The A27, which runs east-west across Sussex several miles north of Bognor, is the main strategic route in the area. It provides connections to Chichester, Arundel, Worthing, Brighton and Eastbourne to the east, and to Portsmouth and the M27 motorway to the west. The A27 is a mixed single and dual carriageway, and the single carriageway sections, particularly around Chichester and Arundel, are notorious for congestion. The Chichester bypass is dual carriageway, but the sections either side revert to single carriageway and create bottlenecks.

Within the Bognor urban area, the roads are generally adequate for the traffic they carry, though the town centre streets can be congested during shopping hours and school runs. The residential streets of Aldwick and Felpham are mostly quiet and pleasant to drive, with low speed limits and little through traffic.

Parking in the town centre and at the seafront is covered in detail elsewhere, but it is worth noting that driving into the town centre is straightforward and the car parks are well signposted. The one-way systems and pedestrianised areas require some familiarity, but the layout is not complicated.

For longer journeys, the road connections from Bognor to the motorway network are adequate but not fast. Reaching the M27 via the A27 west takes approximately thirty to forty minutes in normal traffic. The M23 and Gatwick Airport are about an hour's drive to the north-east. London is approximately two hours by car, depending heavily on traffic conditions on the A24 or M23 and then the M25.

The summer traffic remains the biggest driving issue in the area. Bank holidays and warm weekends bring significant volumes of traffic to the coast road, and journey times on the A259 and A29 can increase substantially. Local knowledge of alternative routes through the villages helps, but there are limited options on the flat coastal plain where the road network is relatively sparse.