Stockbridge Road is shut from the A27 roundabout to Grosvenor Road until 27 November. The signed diversion via Hunston, buses 52 and 53, and access.

Stockbridge Road is closed. It shut to traffic on Saturday 10 October between the A27 Stockbridge roundabout and the junction with Grosvenor Road, 24 hours a day, while SGN replaces the gas main. The works record on the county council’s page lists the closure until Friday 27 November. SGN’s own wording is “approximately seven weeks”.

  • Closed: the A286 Stockbridge Road, from just south of the A27 roundabout to Grosvenor Road, both directions.
  • Open: the A27 bypass and the roundabout itself, and walking and cycling through the works.
  • Diversion: A27, B2145 through Hunston, B2201 back through Donnington.
  • Buses: services 52 and 53 are diverted the same way; the Grosvenor Road stops are not served.

Last checked 20 October 2026. The county council and SGN pages still give the same dates, and the county page now sets out how the diversion queues are being managed (below). West Sussex Highways said on Monday 12 October that drivers trying to get through the closure and damage to the traffic management had already been reported to the police.

Where the road is closed

SGN map of the Stockbridge Road works: the phase one closure in orange from the A27 roundabout to Grosvenor Road, and the phase two work area in purple on Birdham Road between The Meadows and Strides Court
The phase one closure (orange) and the Birdham Road work area that follows (purple). Map: SGN

The closed section is the northern end of Stockbridge Road, between the A27 roundabout and the Grosvenor Road junction, past Upton Road and Queen’s Avenue. SGN and the county council set out the rules:

  • No through traffic between the A27 roundabout and Grosvenor Road.
  • Residents and shops inside the closure get vehicle access from the Grosvenor Road end only. There is no access from the A27.
  • Walking and cycling through the closure stays open.
  • Bin collection days stay the same unless the council tells you otherwise.
  • Emergency vehicles get gated, escorted access through the site from the A27, with gatekeepers on duty 24 hours a day.

Shops and businesses on the road stay open, and SGN asks people to keep using them. The Sussex Express counts eight businesses on the closed stretch, among them Q Hairdressers, Stop n’ Shop and C.R. Ward butchers.

The diversion

The county council gives the signed diversion as the A27 Chichester bypass onto the B2145, then right onto the B2201 at the Sidlesham triangle. Multi-way temporary lights control that junction so that buses and other large vehicles have room to make the turn. The council’s diversion map is on one.network.

In practice that sends traffic for the south end of Stockbridge Road and Donnington south through Hunston and back north through Donnington. The council says the diversion route has been inspected, and that repairs and large-scale patching have been done so it can take the extra traffic.

Stockbridge Road closure queues: how the diversion is managed

The diversion has queued since the first weekend. The county council’s closure page now says why and what is being done, and it does not promise a fix: “The congestion that is occurring is sheer volume of traffic using the diversion route with limited other options off the peninsular.”

  • Two sets of temporary lights help traffic through: at the Sidlesham fork, where the diversion turns onto the B2201, and on Appledram Lane South.
  • Those lights are worked by hand from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week.
  • SGN’s traffic management contractor has staff at both closure points 24 hours a day, and a maintenance team drives the whole diversion every two hours to check signs and lights.
  • County compliance inspectors visit the site daily, checking the closure, the signs, the lights and progress against the permit. The council says the visits will stay daily until the road reopens if they need to.
  • Queue lengths and times are watched in real time through one.network, which anyone can open to see the closure and the signed route before setting off.

The council says it will talk to SGN about changes to the lights if they are not working, but that the site “remains under SGN control at all times”; its own role is to make sure the works meet the permit. Complaints about the works themselves go to SGN (contacts below).

Buses

Stagecoach services 52 and 53 are diverted in both directions between South Bank and Stockbridge Gardens, according to details Stagecoach gave the Sussex Express:

  • The buses run via the A27, the B2145 through Hunston and the B2201 through Donnington, then rejoin the normal route on the A286 towards Birdham and the Witterings.
  • Departure and arrival times at Chichester Bus Station and South Bank are revised to allow for the extra distance. Timings on the rest of the route are unchanged.
  • The Grosvenor Road stops are not served. Use the temporary stop in St George’s Drive, or the Stockbridge Gardens stop, which stays in use.
  • Morning journeys into Chichester on services 51 and 600 are expected to be affected, especially at peak times.
  • Two extra buses an hour run during the closure to meet demand, according to SGN’s project page. Neither SGN nor the county council says which routes carry them.

We still cannot read Stagecoach’s own notice, which its website loads only in a browser. It is here: check it before you travel.

The county council is putting money into bus services for the peninsula. It says it will use the Lane Rental Surplus Fund to “reinforce” services, so that passengers “across the peninsula have access to a reliable service”. It does not say how much. It has also asked Community Transport Sussex to give the most vulnerable residents inside the closure, who lose their bus service, “a lifeline service into Chichester” while the works last.

When it reopens

The works record runs to Friday 27 November. SGN says it will lift the closure early if the work finishes inside the seven weeks. When the closure lifts, SGN moves south: from Monday 30 November, for about four weeks, it works on Birdham Road, Donnington, between The Meadows and Strides Court. That phase runs under multi-way temporary traffic lights, not a closure, and SGN says bus services will be affected again.

Why it has to be a full closure

The county council says the road is not wide enough for traffic to pass the works. The gas main sits in the carriageway, and SGN has to connect homes and businesses on both sides.

SGN’s project page answers the questions people have been asking:

  • Why not traffic lights? “Where the pipes are in the road there is insufficient road width available to safely allow vehicles to pass.”
  • Why not work nights? The gas supply stays live throughout. SGN says working outside normal hours “would introduce additional risks”.
  • Why not more engineers? Adding more in a confined space “can actually delay progress and increase safety risks”.
  • Why is nobody on site sometimes? Engineers may be pressure testing at local governors, making connections inside properties, collecting materials or waiting for concrete to cure.

The pipe is, in SGN’s words, “a very old metal gas pipe that has had a number of emergency gas leaks”. Until now those leaks have been repaired overnight, when traffic is light.

It was due in January

According to the county council, SGN first proposed doing the work in January 2026. It was delayed after “significant concerns raised by councillors and bus operators”. The council says talks began in September 2025.

The timing agreed instead had three aims, in the council’s words:

  • to allow time for preparatory work in the months before
  • to keep key routes open and free-flowing during the busy summer
  • to finish before winter, when demand for gas is higher

That preparatory work has been done. Gas mains on the side roads off Stockbridge Road were replaced earlier this year, so connections could be made under lighter traffic management.

There was no public consultation, and there did not need to be. SGN is a statutory undertaker. It has a regulatory requirement to replace all metal “tier 1” mains near homes and businesses by 2032. Tier 1 means pipes 8 inches across or smaller. The county council says that, as highway authority, it “cannot prevent statutory works from being completed”.

What it means for you

  • If you drive in from Donnington, Birdham, the Witterings or Selsey, your direct road into the city is shut. Allow for the diversion through Hunston.
  • If you live or run a shop inside the closure, you can still drive in and out, but only from the Grosvenor Road end.
  • If you use the Grosvenor Road bus stops, use St George’s Drive or Stockbridge Gardens instead.
  • If you walk or cycle, you can still get through.
  • Questions about the works go to SGN customer service on 0800 912 1700 or customer@sgn.co.uk. If you smell gas, call 0800 111 999.

The closure also lands while the city centre is dug up for the mobile network works, which now run to 22 December. Everything else affecting journeys around the city this autumn is on our Chichester roadworks and travel page, and car park charges are on our parking in Chichester page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Stockbridge Road in Chichester closed today?

Yes. Stockbridge Road (the A286) has been closed to traffic between the A27 Stockbridge roundabout and Grosvenor Road since Saturday 10 October 2026, 24 hours a day, while SGN replaces a gas main. Walking and cycling through the works is still allowed.

When will Stockbridge Road reopen?

The works record on West Sussex County Council’s page lists the closure until Friday 27 November 2026. SGN says the work takes about seven weeks and that it will lift the closure early if it finishes sooner.

What is the diversion for the Stockbridge Road closure?

The signed diversion is the A27 Chichester bypass, then the B2145 through Hunston, then right onto the B2201 at the Sidlesham triangle and back north through Donnington. Multi-way temporary lights control the turn at the triangle.

Why is the Stockbridge Road diversion so slow?

West Sussex County Council says the queues are the sheer volume of traffic on the diversion, with few other routes off the peninsula. Temporary lights at the Sidlesham fork and on Appledram Lane South are worked by hand from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week, and the council watches queue lengths and times through one.network.

Is the Stockbridge roundabout closed?

No. The closed section starts on Stockbridge Road just south of the A27 roundabout, according to SGN’s map, so the bypass and roundabout stay open but you cannot turn off there towards Donnington. Emergency vehicles are the only traffic let through from the A27 end.