A27 and A23 clean and tidy – 500 bags later!

The council’s Cityclean team has cleared the A27 and A23 verges of rubbish, collecting a massive four tonnes of waste along the way.

From paper cups to a double mattress, the team picked up the equivalent of 500 black bin bags of rubbish that people have either thrown from their vehicle, fly-tipped or that had been blown onto the grass verges.

The crews worked for three nights from 10pm until 4am, when the traffic is quieter, on the stretch of road from Falmer junction to the Southwick tunnel – a total of 13.6 miles.

The clean-up also extended to part of the A23 the council is responsible for, north of the London Road roundabout to the stone gate pillars, known as the Patcham Pylons, and the A23 sliproads.

The A27 runs through seven different local authority areas, with each council responsible for litter picking the verges at the side of a particular stretch.

Maintenance of the road is the responsibility of Highways England, as is the cleaning and management of the central reservations. 

Rachel Chasseaud, the council’s assistant director of City Environment, said: “Keeping the verges of the A27 and A23 clean and tidy is a major job as they can accumulate a lot of rubbish in a very short time. 

“There are also many issues the city council faces in clearing the waste, including the safety of our staff and those driving on this very busy road, the need for lane closures and the costs of doing this, and trying to keep traffic disruption to a minimum.

“There is also the added complication of existing road works taking place, the seven different local authorities operating together and working with Highways England to ensure everything is carried out according to its rules and regulations.”   

Rachel added: “Our team has carried out a fantastic job, and 500 bags of waste shows how much people are throwing away their rubbish. 

“But the best way to keep the road’s verges clean and litter free is for people to stop fly-tipping and throwing rubbish out of their cars. 

“This would make a massive difference to the look of the road and the environment as well as saving the council, and therefore our council tax payers, a lot of money.”   

The council also recently met a newly-formed group called the A27 Clean-Up Campaign which is helping keep the road’s verges tidy.