FAQs

The Hazelwick and Tushmore junctions on A2011 Crawley Avenue are important junctions for access to education, jobs and services including Manor Royal Business District and Gatwick Airport. However, the junctions experience high volumes of traffic with most journeys currently being made by private car. This results in congestion, especially during peak times, and there have been a high number of collisions, some of which have involved pedestrians and cyclists. The high levels of use cause traffic noise and poor air quality for nearby residents that has led to the designation of an Air Quality Management Area at Hazelwick. 

As part of the Forge Wood development, traffic signals are planned to be introduced at the Hazelwick junction to mitigate the transport impacts of the development. 

Levels of bus use in Crawley are the highest in West Sussex and there is potential to grow this further. However, services experience delay and longer journey times through the Hazelwick and Tushmore junctions as a result of congestion at peak times. 

Facilities for pedestrians and cyclists at the Hazelwick junction are limited and some existing facilities at the Tushmore junction could be improved. These issues limit the attractiveness of public transport, cycling and walking which could be addressed by improvements to the junctions.

The West Sussex Transport Plan 2022-2036 (opens in new window) sets out how the county council is intending to address a number of challenges, including climate change, congestion, public health and road safety through improvements to the transport network.

An initial seven-week engagement ran from 19 November 2024 to 7 January 2025 and attracted a total of 278 responses. In summary, 59% of respondents (159 responses out of 278) either supported or strongly supported the proposals, while 25% of respondents (68 responses out of 278) opposed or strongly opposed the proposals.

The Engagement Summary Report provides more detail on the feedback received. A link to the Stage 1 report will be made available shortly. 

In the last 5 years, there have been 51 incidents at Hazelwick and 16 at Tushmore. 6 accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists; 2 pedestrians and 4 cyclists at Hazelwick and 2 accidents involving cyclists at Tushmore junctions.

The proposals include making changes to lane allocations and renewing road markings to reduce the likelihood of collisions.

The proposals aim to improve road safety and reduce congestion. The proposals also aim to make local bus services more reliable and a more attractive transport choice, and make active travel a more realistic, attractive, and safe option for journeys using these junctions. This could lead to a reduction in short-distance car journeys, if more journeys are made by public transport, cycling and walking. The proposals being considered are also expected to lead to improvements to air quality and noise around the junctions.

At this early stage a detailed cost estimate has not yet been produced. However, we expect costs to be in line with similar improvements being delivered around the country. Cost estimates will be prepared as part of the design process and shared during a future consultation.

It is currently expected that the improvements would be funded largely using developer contributions and central Government grants that are intended for transport improvement schemes, alongside county council funding. In order to access central Government grants, it will be necessary to demonstrate in a business case that the proposals are deliverable and would provide good value for money.   

Widening roads without also providing improvements to public transport, walking and cycling facilities will encourage more people to drive. The West Sussex Transport Plan 2022-2036 (opens in new window) identifies the need for improvements to highways, public transport and active travel facilities to tackle congestion.  

The proposals include the provision of bus lanes and bus gates on approaches to the Hazelwick and Tushmore junctions. Some localised carriageway widening at Hazelwick will be required to offset lost capacity due to bus lanes. This aims to make bus journey times more competitive and more reliable, and make bus travel a more attractive alternative to the car for some journeys, helping to reduce congestion. 

By providing improved facilities for cycling that are off the carriageway, we also aim to encourage more people to cycle in Crawley, particularly those people that are less confident cyclists. 

The proposals would provide improvements benefiting journeys to a number of key destinations including Manor Royal Business District, Gatwick Airport and other education, employment and retail destinations. The scheme would therefore make it easier for people to use public transport, walk and cycle where these are viable options, rather than using their private vehicles.

Where possible, there will be some localised carriageway widening to ensure that traffic capacity at the junctions is not significantly reduced. We have undertaken some traffic modelling of the proposals as part of a high-level economic assessment that demonstrates our proposals will not have a significant detrimental impact on traffic delays and queuing at the junctions.

Aside from the measures to improve the attractiveness of public transport, walking and cycling, the scheme includes road safety improvements, including adding or upgrading crossings at Hazelwick and Tushmore junctions. There are also proposals to increase the number of circulatory lanes associated with introducing traffic signals at the Hazelwick junction.

The designs that are being developed will be designed in accordance with the latest cycle design guidance (LTN 1/20) (opens in new window).

The proposals include new bus lanes and bus gates using traffic signals for buses at the Hazelwick and Tushmore junctions. This may allow more frequent levels of bus services to be introduced in the future.

A key function of the proposals will be to ensure that any proposals developed will link to existing facilities such as linking to Woolborough Lane and Manor Royal, or can be linked in the future as other improvements come forward. We are proposing a continuation of the shared-use path from Power Av.to the underpass at Woolborough Lane.

Information about the county council’s approach to road maintenance is available at: https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/campaigns/better-roads/ (opens in new window).

It is currently expected that the schemes will be largely funded using central Government grants and developer funding that cannot be used for road maintenance.

The county council undertook a separate public consultation to understand the views of residents on proposals for a Controlled Parking Zone in the Three Bridges and Pound Hill areas of Crawley between 4^th November and 1^st December 2024. Further information is available at at https://yourvoice.westsussex.gov.uk/parking-strategy (opens in new window).

Following the close of the consultation, all responses will be analysed and used to help us decide the next steps for the scheme. If the scheme is taken forward, it will be necessary to develop a business case and undertake design, further consultation and all relevant statutory processes. We will publish a consultation report in due course to present the results of the analysis and show how the feedback has been considered.

The next steps for the proposals will be informed by the outcomes of this consultation period. Further design and consultation would be needed before any improvements could be constructed.  

Construction would be subject to a business case, all relevant statutory processes (e.g. planning) and securing central Government funding and developer contributions for delivery. Therefore, it is not possible to confirm a delivery timescale at this stage. However, it is likely to be several years before any construction could commence. The introduction of traffic signals at the Hazelwick junction is required as part of the Forge Wood development, so this would go ahead even if other proposals are not taken forward.

The scheme may cause some localised impacts, such as on grass verges, vegetation and wildlife, due to the proposed highway widening and lighting proposals. These impacts will be assessed in further detail at the next design stage, through a detailed environmental assessment including ecological impact assessment.

We are not planning to make any changes to either Tushmore guided busway or the Hazelwick flyover. All our proposals will be at ground level.

This is unknown at this stage. Before any construction on the proposals could start, a Construction Management Plan will be developed to minimise the impact on the local community as much as possible. This will detail any necessary road closures or changes to access for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as diversion routes during construction. Further details of construction impacts will be made available during a future consultation.

An Air Quality Management Area has been declared at the Hazelwick junction due to exceedances of mean average annual standard for NO₂. DEFRA has also identified Noise Important Areas close to both junctions. Therefore, we are considering a range of potential measures that could reduce pollution and noise such as changes to speed limits and surfacing. We welcome your views on these proposals as we also consider whether these would be effective and provide value for money.

You can either email any comments or questions to the team at LTP@westsussex.gov.uk or you can telephone 01243 642105. If you are deaf and have the NGT app installed on your PC, laptop, or mobile phone, you can contact us on 18001 01243 642105.