Radical traffic plans proposed for 'gateway to Littlehampton'

They are suggesting the traffic flow should be reversed along High Street and Surrey Street, so that drivers coming into town are encouraged to travel through the shopping centre, instead of being diverted away from it.

It would turn the clock back almost 40 years, to when Franciscan Way was built, taking traffic away from the centre, and followed, soon afterwards, by the pedestrianising of most of High Street.

But changing times have led to the re-think, backed by Littlehampton Traders' Partnership.

For years, visitors to the town have been directed to the seafront along routes away from the shopping area, giving them no clues to the businesses trading in the town centre.

"At the moment, we are not telling people what we have got to offer in the town '“ it's a big secret," said traders' partnership chairman John Stevens, who has helped to draw up the new traffic system."

The main change would be reversing the flow of traffic in Surrey Street and High Street, so that drivers approaching the town centre from the west and north would be able to continue from the Terminus Road/Arundel Road junction, along High Street, into Surrey Street, and then either down Pier Road or into New Road.

"It's a beautifully simple scheme, which could be achieved mainly with new white lining and signposting, and not extensive engineering. At the Arundel Road junction, there would be a change of priority, so that people were encouraged to go further down High Street and see the shops on offer.

"At the moment, visitors don't see the town centre, they are swept away from it.

"The original purpose of Franciscan Way, to take traffic away from the centre, has now itself been overtaken by the building of the bypass, and yet motorists are still directed round the shopping area, and that is something which must be redressed," added Mr Stevens.

The need for action to revitalise the shopping centre has been made all the more urgent by a serious decline in business suffered by many businesses in 2005.

This is mainly attributed to the closure of the Somerfield supermarket in High Street, leaving the town with just one central supermarket.