Broadbridge Heath traffic chaos: I’m trapped in my home says woman

A Horsham woman says she feels trapped in her home because of the Broadbridge Heath bypass works.
Gill Ganssens feels 'trapped' in her home by the works.Gill Ganssens feels 'trapped' in her home by the works.
Gill Ganssens feels 'trapped' in her home by the works.

Mrs Gill Ganssens, of Scholars Walk, blasted the works for leaving her ‘stuck’ in Highwood Mill.

She fumed: “I’m at my wits end. It’s making me feel trapped. I’m thinking of moving.

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“This is a problem that’s not going to go away. In fact it’s going to get ten times worse.”

Gill Ganssens feels 'trapped' in her home by the works.Gill Ganssens feels 'trapped' in her home by the works.
Gill Ganssens feels 'trapped' in her home by the works.

Mrs Ganssens said she has been stranded on the estate, waiting more than ten minutes to get onto the roundabouts which lead to the A24.

She added: “What can be done? I don’t know what they can do. Since they have closed the road past Tesco it’s just got worse.

“Even during the day I could still sit for a few minutes.”

Mrs Ganssens expressed concern for vulnerable older drivers having to spot small gaps in the traffic to make it onto the roundabout.

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She added: “I have got the power in my car to join and go but even my heart goes sometimes. It’s a worry.”

She said she had a near miss as she joined the A24 northbound towards Farthings Hill leaving her fearing for drivers’ safety.

She added: “[The other driver] would have been annihilated. It would have been curtains.

“You just think to yourself your [the other driver’s] life depends on this - do you have to go so fast to get across the roundabout?”

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But the problem is only going to get worse Mrs Ganssens said.

She added: “I don’t think there’s a solution to it, I really don’t. At the end of the day we’re stuck.

“Once they have completed the estate it’s going to be ten times worse. To be honest I’m thinking of moving.”

The controversial multimillion pound works will split the A281 in two from the Tesco roundabout to the Newbridge roundabout.

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The scheme will ‘help to improve access for residents, walking and cycling between the junctions and shopping and retail areas’ according to West Sussex County Council.

The road will be downgraded between the Tesco roundabout and the Newbridge roundabout, allowing access only to buses and taxis.

The new route will run next to a raised cycle path and footpath.

But the works have left drivers furious as the area has repeatedly been gridlocked, most recently due to a sporting event the council ‘did not know about’.