A23
| A23 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| From: | London (TQ311794) | |||||||||
| To: | Brighton (TQ313038) | |||||||||
| Distance: | 52 miles (83.7 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A302, B300, A3203, A3204, A3, A202, A203, A2217, A204, A205, B221, A214, A216, B272, B273, A235, A236, A232, B271, B275, A2022, A22, B2030, B2032, A237, B276, M23, B2031, A242, A25, A2044, B2036, A217, A2011, A2219, A2220, A2004, A264, B2114, B2110, B2115, A272, A2300, B2118, B2117, A281, A273, A27, A270, B2119, B2066, B2118, A259 | |||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A22 | |||||||||
| Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
Brighton • Reigate • Crawley • Gatwick Airport • Westminster • Croydon • Central London • London • Brixton | ||||||||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
National Highways • Transport for London • Brighton and Hove • Lambeth • Surrey • West Sussex | ||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
The A23 is the London to Brighton road.
Route
Starting in Lambeth, it passes the various South London suburbs like Brixton, Streatham and Croydon before becoming non-primary at Hooley. It then goes though Redhill, passes Gatwick Airport and Crawley before resuming Trunk status at Pease Pottage Interchange before the run to Brighton where it ends on the Seafront on a roundabout with the A259. Part of the road is also in the South Downs National Park.
From its creation in 1936, the London-Brighton trunk road followed the A23 throughout its length.
History
Unlike many of the First 99 that start in London, the A23's northern end has not really changed since Classification, although the section as far as Purley was originally numbered A22. The southern end has seen much more work. Today it is mostly D3 south of the M23 and an bypass of Crawley.
In 1956 to 1958 the A23 was rerouted around the east edge of Gatwick Airport which was being much expanded from the small prewar airport. Previously the A23 ran straight from Povey Cross to Lowfield Heath across where the airport is now.
Notable locations and improvements
Hooley Interchange
The Hooley Interchange is where the A23 finally loses trunk status to the M23. Due to the failure of the Ringway Project, today the M23 ends here instead of further north.
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport has been a major destination for the A23 since 1935 with the original Beehive Terminal. It was upgraded in 1958 to become London's second airport. Today Gatwick is the world's busiest single runway Airport.
Handcross - Warninglid
Main Article: A23/Handcross - Warninglid From Spring 2012 to October 2014, this winding D2 section was improved to modern D3 standard, and the Slaugham junction was closed, with improved junctions at Handcross and minor changes at Warninglid. Plans in the 1990s included a fourth lane up the hill northbound, though three lanes each way was chosen. Preparatory works started in October 2011 with the works finishing in 2014.
Patcham interchange
The Patcham Interchange is the last GSJ of the A23. Built in the early 1990's for the A27 upgrade, it is a poorly designed junction built into a small valley.
Opening Dates
| Year | Section | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Patcham Bypass | Mentioned as complete in a review of the year by the West Sussex Gazette of 31 December 1925. 0.4 mile. |
| 1939 | Crawley Bypass | The 2.5 mile road opened on 9 July 1939, cost £200,000. Newspapers reported that road worker Thomas Sutton opened the road then went home for breakfast, but this was not true since there were 95 men working at the time and 3 sets of barriers to remove. |
| 1959 | Handcross Bypass | New alignment with online dualling to Pease Pottage. Surrey Advertiser and County Times of 28 March 1959 reported that roadworks were nearing completion and it would open in July 1959. Work began in 1956-57. 1.1 mile with.24 foot carriageways. |
| 1960 | Pease Pottage Bypass | Opened by Easter 1960. There were now 7 miles of continuous dual carriageway from Crawley Bypass to Bolney Common. |
| 1986 | Redhill Southern Relief Road | Marketfield Way was opened on 20 August 1986. Cost £600,000. |
| 1991 | Sayers Common and Albourne Bypass | Sayers Common - Muddleswood. Completed in December 1991 per Hansard. Contractor was Amey Construction Ltd.. Tender cost £10.5 million. Dual carriageway. |
| 1992 | Muddleswood - Patcham (Brighton) | Online dualling. Completed in December 1992 per Hansard. Tender cost £15.4 million. |
| 1993 | Warninglid - Sayers Common Bypass | Bolney Common Bypass and new alignment north of Bolney Crossways. Online dualling south of Bolney Crossways. Completed in June 1993 per Hansard. Tender cost £14.3 million, outturn cost £20.9 million. |
| 2006 | Coulsdon Relief Road | Farthing Way was opened on 16 December 2006. The single carriageway road had one southbound lane and two northbound lanes, one being a priority lane for public transport, HGVs and cyclists. Contractor was Hochtief, cost £35 million. |
| 2014 | Handcross - Warninglid Widening | 2.4 mile section realigned and upgraded from D2 to D3. Opened on 6 October 2014 per the Land Compensation Act notice. Included local access road, footpath and cycleway. Contractor was Carillion, outturn cost £78 million. See POPE Report. |
Links
Roads.org.uk
Roads UK
National Highways
