Labour has welcomed firm plans for a trial park and ride scheme in Mill Road, Brighton, from June to September.
Councillors are due to decide whether to push on with the proposal at a meeting at Hove Town Hall on Tuesday (15 March).
The party said that it had been calling for a park and ride scheme for some time and added that the Green administration had dragged its heels and appeared unenthusiastic.
But Labour said that that a park and ride scheme could improve air quality and cut congestion and carbon emissions as similar schemes had elsewhere.
The Greens fear that a park and ride scheme could end up attracting more people to drive to Brighton.
If the scheme becomes permanent, the Greens also want parking spaces to be removed from the centre of Brighton.
The trial scheme would be run by Brighton and Hove Buses along similar lines to the way that Brighton and Hove Albion runs the match-day park and ride from the same site.
It will be target people from surrounding areas where public transport options are poor or not available.
Brighton and Hove City Council expects the temporary scheme to cost about £100,000, with the bus company bearing the operating costs of providing stewards and promoting the scheme.
It would have about 450 spaces, including disabled bays near the entrance at the bottom end of Mil Road. The road would be one way as when Albion play home matches at the Amex Community Stadium in Falmer.
A report to councillors said: “Introducing a park and ride to minimise car use in the city is one of ten recommendations made by the Climate Assembly in 2020.
“If successful, this trial may help the council understand how a park and ride scheme may reduce car use.
“It will also identify any limitations and sustainability implications of the wider impact on air quality and with respect to reducing car parking capacity in the city.”
The report, to the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, also said: “Closure of the road to allow the park and ride to operate will offer an opportunity to consider the long-term use of Mill Road as it is currently used as a short cut by some local drivers to avoid using a section of the A27.
“A national cycle route also cuts across Mill Road at the eastern end and any closure will help to improve the access for cycling.
“There will also be benefits for the Dyke Road Avenue/King George VI Avenue roundabout as it will improve opportunities for vehicles entering from Dyke Road Avenue and may reduce queuing and congestion.
“Parking surveys of the Westdene area will be carried out to monitor any potential impact on surrounding residential areas.”
There are concerns that some drivers will switch from using Mill Road as a rat-run to streets in Westdene.
If councillors agree on Tuesday, a 12-week consultation will start. This will allow for objections before the council decides whether to make a traffic regulation order (TRO) to put the planned road changes on a legal footing.
And if the trial goes ahead, the bus company will be expected to collate feedback about the trial and share it with the council.
People living in the area should receive letters informing them of the trial and giving them a chance to express their views.
The site would continue to be used by Albion on match days as well as for the upcoming Women’s Euro competition, when parking will be for match ticket holders only.
The Amex Stadium in Falmer is due to host two group stage matches and a quarter-final in July.
England are scheduled to play Norway at the stadium on Monday 11 July and Norway are listed to play Austria there on Friday 15 July. The Amex is due to host one of the four quarter-finals on Wednesday 20 July.
Labour councillor Gary Wilkinson, who speaks for his party on environment, transport and sustainability matters, said: “We have been calling on the Green administration for months now to commit to delivering a park and ride scheme, in line with the recommendations of the Climate Assembly we set up.
“After consistent lobbying from my Labour colleagues and I, the administration is finally bringing forward plans for a park and ride trial at Mill Road.
“I welcome this report – better late than never – but I hope we see more urgency from the council in making progress on the feasibility study to explore permanent sites that it agreed to, if we are serious about reaching carbon net zero by 2030.”
Park and Ride schemes have been shown to work in many other cities but need to be part of a wider strategy. I’m really pleased that Labour has pushed the backward thinking Greens on this in order to begin to reduce congestion and air pollution.
It is a stand-alone trial and I hope the feedback is seen as such, as it would be easier to assess if there were several schemes running at once but I look forward to seeing the results.
It’s about time Brighton and Hove had Park and Ride. Well overdue.
Did I read the greens want to remove parking from the city center?
That is actually a good idea but ONLY if they put big 2000+ space car parks at ever entrance to the city and create a park and ride system that services all those points.
Never know, maybe we will finally get an express bus service and I can finally sell my car
It’s all well and good removing parking from the city centre (if the trial is successful) but what impact would that have on disabled drivers and their carers? Not everyone can use public transport. Don’t get me wrong, a park and ride scheme is a great way to reduce traffic in the city centre. But disabled drivers are having spaces removed in favour of electric car charging points already. This can really work well if proper plans are put in place and thought through properly. The greens and labour are not exactly great at that so far. Let’s hope moving forward things change for the better.
“Greens also want parking spaces to be removed from the centre of Brighton” – what are the Greens trying to do? Kill this city? As a small businessperson I can tell you, we need lots and lots of people to come to Brighton by any and all means of transport to get out economy moving. Why do the Green always want to hurt business and commerce?
Remember when they did this at withdrawn stadium and it turned out to be a joke. Turn up for busses get on overcrowded and pay a fortune to get into Brighton Do some shopping struggle to get bus Bach to stadium transfer to car IF you could get parked and then drive home
Peter
So if the buses were overcrowded that means it was very popular and needed additional buses to run the service.
I never experienced any concerns getting on or off the P & R service when it ran. Wasn’t that expensive if I recall.
Perhaps you’re happy crawling into Brighton, then finding a parking place and paying through the nose.
Should have done this years ago. Park & Ride North East & West. Sorted