The racing along a stretch of main road will get worse now that a new bypass has opened, a councillor has warned.
Reform councillor Gary Markwell raised his concerns about anti-social driving along the Lyminster bypass at a West Sussex County Council meeting.
Councillor Markwell, who represents Arundel and Courtwick, said that the “racing” that takes place along the southern section of the bypass would get a lot worse now the northern section was open.
Joy Dennis, the council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said that there were similar problems when a new road was opened in Burgess Hill, linking the A273 to the A2300.
She said: “The problem is, if people want new roads but then they say they don’t want the new roads because people are going to race and behave inappropriately on them, then we don’t have any new roads or infrastructure.
“It does come down to anti-social behaviour at the end of the day which needs to be addressed.”
Sussex Police said: “We understand the impact anti-social driving can have on our communities and officers patrol our roads to ensure safety and to catch offenders.
“We encourage anyone with concerns to report incidences to us using the Operation Crackdown website.
“In addition to Operation Crackdown, we deploy to various locations over the summer months as part of Operation Downsway, where we seek to positively influence drivers and motorcyclists to drive and ride responsibly, considerately and safely.”
As well as his worries about anti-social driving, Councillor Markwell also predicted another problem.
He said: “Now that that road is linked up to Crossbush, where there is a McDonald’s, I think there also is going to be a massive increase in roadside litter, which we all see around fast-food outlets, especially if the road is being used by the kind of people who do racing down that road.”
