Why tolerate Tarmac-geddon in the countryside? | Patrick Barkham

The Arundel bypass shows the folly of our car-crazed culture. Are we prepared to sacrifice the natural wealth of a national park to shave 10 minutes off a journey?Like most motorists passing the West Sussex town of Arundel, I spent some time last week in a jam at Crossbush, one of the most bizarre road junctions ever. A child could design a better way of moving traffic into the single-carriageway A27.I then spent several hours in the countryside that grown-ups hope will alleviate this jam. Highways England proposes building a dual carriageway through a landscape filled with bluebells, orchids, historic hedgerows, a pond where a thousand toads gather in spring, and ancient trees where 13 of Britain's 17 breeding bat species fly. Continue reading...