National Highways shuts the A27 Chichester bypass lay-bys for three weeks from 1 September, with overnight resurfacing to 22 August. Plus car park charges.

Two things are worth knowing before you drive around Chichester over the next few months. National Highways is closing the lay-bys along the A27 Chichester bypass for about three weeks from Tuesday 1 September, for carriageway repairs. And overnight closures of the A27 west of Fontwell run to 22 August, which affects anyone heading east towards Arundel after 8pm.

Everything below was checked on 9 August 2026 against National Highways’ own scheme pages, the statutory traffic notices published for the district, and Chichester District Council’s car park pages. West Sussex County Council is the highways authority for local roads here; the A27 trunk road is National Highways’.

What is happening on the A27

Lay-by closures, Chichester bypass, from 1 September. National Highways has given notice of a 24-hour closure of the lay-bys on both carriageways of the A27 between the Bognor Road roundabout (A259) and the Warblington interchange (A259), done in phases while contractors carry out carriageway repairs. The notice says the work on the Chichester bypass section is expected to take about three weeks from on or after Tuesday 1 September 2026, with the remaining sites between Fishbourne and Warblington taking about three weeks from on or after Monday 2 November 2026. The order comes into force on 30 August 2026 and can run for up to eighteen months, ceasing when the work is done. The notice was published on 6 August 2026, reference NH/SE/2026/A27/63.

A27 Fontwell to Crockerhill resurfacing, to 22 August. National Highways is resurfacing the A27 east of the city, with overnight closures from 8pm to 6am. The westbound carriageway between Fontwell West Roundabout and Boxgrove Roundabout is closed overnight on 3 to 7, 10 to 14 and 17 to 21 August. The signed diversion leaves the A27 at Fontwell West Roundabout, runs south on the A29 through Fontwell, Westergate and Shripney, picks up the A259 westbound from Bognor Regis and rejoins the A27 at the Bognor roundabout. The eastbound phases ran through July.

A standing lay-by order across the whole corridor. Separately, an Area 4 order covering the A27 between the Warblington interchange and Lancing came into force on 1 July 2026 and runs to 24 December 2027. It authorises closure of any lay-by on the route whenever maintenance needs it, whether work is going on or not, with no diversion. That is why you will find lay-bys coned off on the bypass at times when nothing appears to be happening.

A27 works around Chichester, August to November 2026 Timeline showing the A27 Fontwell to Crockerhill resurfacing running to 22 August 2026, the Chichester bypass lay-by closures running about three weeks from 1 September 2026, and the Fishbourne to Warblington lay-by closures running about three weeks from 2 November 2026. A standing Area 4 lay-by closure order covers the whole period and runs to December 2027. What is closed on the A27, and when Expected working windows, not the legal duration of each order. Source: National Highways scheme pages and statutory notices. 1 Sep 1 Oct 1 Nov 1 Dec 9 Aug A27 Fontwell to Crockerhill Bypass lay-bys (phase 1) Fishbourne to Warblington Area 4 standing lay-by order The resurfacing bar shows only the westbound overnight phases still to run. The lay-by bars show the expected three-week working windows. The Area 4 order runs to 24 December 2027 and lets National Highways shut any lay-by on the corridor at any time, with no diversion.
Read the expected working window, not the order length. The A27 lay-by order legally lasts eighteen months; the work is planned to take three weeks a phase.

Why the A27 matters so much here

Chichester has one road that carries almost everything. The A27 Chichester bypass runs along the southern edge of the city, and every east-west journey through the district uses part of it. West to east, its junctions are the Fishbourne roundabout, the Stockbridge roundabout, the Whyke roundabout and the Bognor Road roundabout, then it continues past Westhampnett towards Boxgrove and Fontwell.

That single carriageway of dependency is why the road has been argued over for decades and why a closure at one roundabout reroutes the whole city rather than one street.

The long-term picture is that nothing large is funded. West Sussex County Council states plainly that the Chichester A27 scheme was cancelled in 2017, and that the Arundel, Worthing and Lancing schemes were cancelled in 2024. The county council is working with Transport for the South East to press the government to put A27 improvements back into the Road Investment Strategy, and in the meantime is pursuing small-scale improvements alongside new development. The capacity of the A27 was also one of the constraints the council put to the Planning Inspectors when it argued for a lower housing target, which is covered on the planning news page.

Local schemes in progress

A285 Chichester to Tangmere active travel corridor. West Sussex County Council approved this for its capital programme in May 2026. It will run from Chichester city centre out to Tangmere via St Pancras, Westhampnett Road, Church Road, Footpath 553 and Shopwhyke Lakes, in two phases. The plan includes a two-way cycle track on the north side of St Pancras with the road reduced to one traffic lane, a two-way cycle track on the south side of Westhampnett Road that removes around ten on-street parking spaces, bus priority at the Westhampnett Road and St James Road lights, and raised crossings on the side roads. The council is developing initial designs and expects to finish that stage by May 2027, with a design review in summer 2027. There is no construction date.

Chichester public realm improvements. West Sussex County Council is prioritising public realm work in the city centre and is running it through its Your Voice consultation site. The page was last updated on 6 August 2026.

Kennel Hill Road, Goodwood Estate. Closed from 3 to 22 August, according to the Weald & Downland Living Museum, which sits at the far end of it. Follow the signed diversion if you are heading for Singleton.

Parking in Chichester

Chichester District Council runs the city’s car parks. All of them are open 24 hours a day, and all take payment by MiPermit as well as at the machine. Charges apply Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm, including bank and public holidays, and Sunday 10am to 5pm.

Chichester District Council car park charges, city centre
Time parkedShort stayShort stay (central)Long stay
Up to 30 minutes70pn/a70p
Up to 1 hour£1.80£2.50£1.10
Up to 2 hours£3.70£5.00£2.30
Up to 4 hours£7.70£10.00£4.60
Up to 8 hours£15.20£17.30£7.80
Up to 12 hours£19.60£21.20£10.00

The gap between the tariffs is the single most useful thing to know about parking here. Four hours costs £10.00 in a central short-stay car park and £4.60 in a long stay. The car parks on the central short-stay tariff are Baffins Lane, Little London, Market Avenue and St John’s, all close to the Cross; a five-minute walk out to a long-stay bay halves the bill.

Two city car parks are worth knowing by name:

  • East Pallant (PO19 1UF), 165 spaces, nine accessible bays and two electric vehicle bays. This is the nearest car park to the cathedral, which has no visitor parking of its own.
  • Florence Road (PO19 7PY), 20 spaces. Free at all times, maximum stay three hours, no return within three hours.

Market Road and the northern part of Orchard Street are season-ticket only from Monday to Friday and pay and display at weekends and on bank holidays.

There is no park and ride in the district. The council’s own car park list includes no such site, so every drive into the city ends in a city-centre car park.

Parking out in the district

The council also runs the coastal and market-town car parks, and several of them have seasonal tariffs that change on 1 April and 1 November.

  • Bosham, Bosham Lane (PO18 8HT), 379 spaces. Charges 8am to 6pm every day, £1.10 for an hour up to £5.10 for six.
  • Bracklesham Lane, Bracklesham Bay (PO20 8HP), 97 spaces. Seasonal charges all year, 8am to 6pm. £2.90 for two hours from 1 April to 31 October, £1.00 for two hours over the winter.
  • Marine Drive, West Wittering. Seasonal, £7.00 for ten hours from 1 April to 31 October and £2.50 over the winter. This is the council car park, not the beach car park run by the West Wittering Estate, which charges separately and more.
  • Selsey East Beach (PO20 0SZ), roughly 181 spaces, height restriction 2.1 metres, seasonal charges all year.
  • Midhurst Grange Road (GU29 9LT), 303 spaces, and Petworth Pound Street (GU28 0DX), 236 spaces. Both charge Monday to Saturday 8am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 5pm.
  • Crossfield, Fernhurst (GU27 3JL) and Sylvia Beaufoy, Petworth (GU28 0ET) are free at all times.

Getting out without the car

Chichester station has 202 parking spaces and a direct half-hourly train to London Victoria in 1 hour 36 minutes, with Gatwick Airport an hour away on the same service. Fares, season ticket prices and the full timetable are on the trains to London page.

Where to check before you set off

More Chichester local information: house prices, trains to London, planning news and things to do in Chichester.