NCN288
| 288 | ||||||||||
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| From: | Selsey | |||||||||
| To: | Midhurst | |||||||||
| Via: | Chichester | |||||||||
| Meets: | NCN2 | |||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
Template:Future NCN Custom
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NCN 288 Travels North - South in West Sussex between Selsey and currently to West Dean, Via Chichester. The route South of Chichester is part on road, part bridleway and part purpose built cycleway. North of Chichester it uses the disused railway alignment of the Chichester - Midhurst Line which closed in 1991, this section of the route is known as the Centurion Way and currently exists to West Dean, with current construction planned to take the route to the South Downs Way at Cocking. The route through Chichester and to the South of Chichester is multiplex's with NCN2. Before 2022 the route was known as Regional Cycle Route 88, however most regional cycle routes in the South East gained NCN status by adding a 2 to their number.
Route
Selsey - South Mundham
Chichester - West Dean
West Dean - Cocking
Cocking- Midhurst
History
1991
Last railway traffic, rails lifted
2015
Centurion Way Extension I - 1.5 mile (2.5km) extension along the old railway alignment to terminate the route at West Dean. The route did previously terminate at West Dean, but used a shared path along the A286 instead.
Future Plans
The section North of Chichester is called the Centurion Way and runs along the old railway alignment. This is mostly within the South Downs National Park, and due to this it is their policies and strategies that dictate where routes get placed and their priority. There are a handful of routes which the National Park would like to deliver, which does include the old railway, for its entire length to Midhurst. At Midhurst it is planned it would meet another converted old railway between Petersfield & Pulborough - currently no works are proposed for this yet.
Centurion Way Extension II
In 2018 planning permission was granted to extend the route to Cocking, where it would meet the South Downs Way - one of the nations most famous long distance paths - which is also a mountain biking route. Construction started in 2023, and proposed to be complete by 2026 at a cost of £2.3 million. On this section there are 3 tunnels, however due to bats in the tunnels, they are protected, and the cycle route would take a diversion around the tunnels, this will result in sections which could be too steep to cycle.
Centurion Way Extension III
The third extension to the Centurion Way has not been announced, but would likely complete the route all the way to Midhurst. There are no further aspirations to extend the route beyond Midhurst, but there are aspirations to convert the old railway alignment between Petersfield & Pulborough, which would connect onto this route.
South of Chichester there are plans to built a new cycle route, named "Selsey Greenway", outlined in the West Sussex LCWIP 2023.
Links