A proposed cycle lane along Brighton seafront has been awarded £1.2 million by the government, Brighton and Hove City Council said today (Monday 23 May).
The proposed cycle lane would run along the A259 Marine Parade between Brighton Marina and the Aquarium roundabout.
The council said: “Our work to encourage active and sustainable travel in Brighton and Hove has been given another huge boost thanks to a successful funding bid.
“We have been awarded £1.208 million by the Department for Transport (DfT) for a new cycle route on Marine Parade (A259), a key route linking eastern areas of Brighton and Hove with the city centre.
“The money has been awarded from tranche 3 of the government’s Active Travel Fund.
“We were awarded £663,000 from tranche 1 of the fund in June 2020 and a further £2.376 million from tranche 2 in November 2020.
“This funding is already helping us to deliver a range of active travel and pedestrian improvements, including the A259 (seafront) and the A23.
“Work will now begin to develop this scheme, with designs subject to public consultation with residents, partners and key stakeholders in the city.
“We will also be collecting monitoring and evaluation data and working with Active Travel England, a new government body set up to support and oversee active travel projects and headed up by Olympic champion and Tour de France stage winner Chris Boardman.”
Green councillor Steve Davis, who co-chairs the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said: “This is another excellent step towards making Brighton and Hove a city built for active and sustainable travel.
“We want to provide people with a safe and accessible infrastructure that allows them to make travel choices that are emissions free and can help us tackle the ongoing climate emergency.
“Marine Parade is one of the strategic routes prioritised in the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan that councillors approved earlier this year (March 2022) and so being able to deliver on this so quickly will be great for taking that long term vision forward.”
Last week the council announced that it had been awarded almost £80,000 for a “mini Holland” feasibility study to assess how streets in Hove could be made more pedestrian and cycle-friendly.
If its anything like the new cycle path along Ditching Road which is still in the process of being completed,any of you councillors go and take a walk along what has been completed and you will see mounds of tarmac lifting up where roots underneath the path is forcing the tarmac up into large mounds I walk this path daily within 6 months it will all need doing again,if you would like me to send you some photos,send me your email address and I will oblige no problem.
Unfortunately, there are some of us who are physically unable to cycle – or even walk effectively. Is anything being done for us? It is not.
The council won £29 million quid to improve bus services just a couple of weeks back. Happy?
Literally every single road in the entire city is oriented around making it fast and convenient to drive to everywhere you could possibly imagine, despite the frequent resulting deaths and injuries of pedestrians and people cycling. Sit down and get a grip.
Hang on a minute, haven’t we already got a cycle lane along Madeira Drive that runs to the Marina ?
I shall be contacting DfT and questioning if they know BHCC already received funding for M D cycle lane.
That one dosent go to the hospital
Neither will this one.
Lol consultation all consultations the green party does is one sided
Unfortunaetly there isnt. if you live in kemp town you cant access the maderia Drive without going down steps can you?
I have a mixed reaction to this and am a bit surprised by the uncritical reporting.
As a cyclist myself, I love a good cycle lane and this is part of the route I take from Hove to get to a workshop we are currently renting. But there is already a massive cycle lane on Madeira Drive!
The A259 here runs parallel to Madeira Drive and is obviously higher up, but it’s already very cycle friendly, because it’s flat and generously wide, with a dual Boulevard in sections. That double width allows traffic to turn left or right, without slowing up other traffic.
The speed limit for cars on this section of road is already kept in check by speed cameras.
Presumably this proposed cycle lane then cuts up the existing Boulevard/road, with more stupid relocating of parking and bus stops into the middle of the road? The road space left for traffic is then limited deliberately, holding up all the commuter traffic from landlocked Peacehaven, Saltdean, and Rottingdean, and slowing up the commuter route bus service.
How is this necessary, or a good idea?
The actual policy here doesn’t seem to be about providing better cycle routes so much as about closing roads – because of the official policy of discouraging cars.
I’m no car fan myself, but the dumb thing I’m objecting to here is that nothing new is being provided that helps people get from a to b. No new bus service or a tram system. No new ring road or park and ride scheme.
And when, one day, when I have a heart attack in Hove, how do I get to the hosoital? By bike?
Just because you can get funding for something doesn’t mean you should do it.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could spend the same money on a cheaper bus service, or on a new bus lane, or even some street cleaners?
You’ve got it Billy. Green pollution. That is the key. Any where a road flows efficiently due to a wide carriageway or two lanes, this MUST be stopped and turned into a fume laden car park where vehicle movement is hampered. The council loves fumes as then they can say “cars are bad, m kay?”.
Build bus stops out into the road, and remove anywhere cars have space to turn right. Everything must be turned into queues.
Billy if you’re having a heart attack in any part of the country you should call an ambulance. Do you really think you’re going to drive a car to the hospital in the midst of cardiac arrest?
‘We want to provide people with a safe and accessible infrastructure that allows them to make travel choices that are emissions free and can help us tackle the ongoing climate emergency’
So why did the police spend 2 months taking electric scooters off people on marine parade?
You know what would make me travel on a bike more,smooth roads…
“why did the police spend 2 months taking electric scooters off people on marine parade?”
Because they are illegal?
Yet another disgusting waste of money.
Why can’t they use this money to put normal cycle lanes along all the main roads that doesn’t impact all other road users.
Last time I checked this road was massively wide and didn’t have traffic issues, so who is coming up with these ideas, do they even cycle?
As for this website, are you actually going to do some journalism or just act as a notice board for the council.
How many cycles use this road currently, in 1 years time will we have figures to show increases? How many ambulances use this road as a short cut to get through the city, as the rest of the roads around it have been needlessly Jammed up? (It’s a lot btw) Maybe we could have some comments from SECAMS or the fire brigade?
By ‘normal cycle lane’ I assume you mean the paint only things that are literally worse than nothing?
Some people seem to regard cycling and walking as a hobby rather than transport. So National Cycle Route 2 along Madeira Drive can be closed for days as it is with almost every event and so what. Last time it was the mini rally , the vintage bus rally, The Marathon….The first thing the organisers do is close the bike lane no detour signs .
That’s why a decent bike lane is needed
Agree with this but this is with the council who allow these events and set the terms. Very frustrating to have this cycle lane closed so frequently essentially just so various different types of vehicles can park on it.
Jon
With respect, this city has roads closed at various times throughout the year for any number of events.
It’s very frustrating having roads closed for all these events however we learn to live with it.
While I accept we need to encourage more people to consider alternative modes of transport, I can not see any reasoning for a cycle lane on this road when there is a perfectly adequate lane already installed on the lower prom, that funding was secured for and as a tax payer this new funding could have been used for something else, like a park and ride, cheaper bus fares, or even additional cycle lanes elsewhere, just seems a waste of tax payers money this time around.
I’m not anti cycle just consider this project as un-needed at this current time, bearing in mind they intend to rip up the Old Steine roundabout I’m thinking it’s going to be more wasted funding needlessly.
Would have been better to prioritise other routes, not everywhere in B&H is on the seafront..
And yet the motorist gets bashed again!
Which motorist specifically? I didn’t get the memo and I’d like to join in.
Junia
Come on you can’t be that dumb.
Motorists include Buses, Taxis, delivery drivers, emergency crews, care workers, Councils own crews along with other motorists who need to use their vehicles for various reasons.
Well our friend Halo16 here is referring to ‘the motorist’ in the singular, not ‘motorists’ in the plural, so I wanted to know which single motorist specifically is or was currently being bashed. There are quite a lot of you and I don’t have all the time in the world.
There is already a really good cycle lane on medieval drive running between the aquarium roundabout and the marina. I don’t get it
There is already a perfect cycle lane running from the pier to the marina.
I’m not 100% sure if this is correct but I think you can cycle on the really wide prom at the top, right next to where this lane is proposed.
Lastly when the cycle lane went in by the pier during covid it had to be removed pretty quickly as it caused huge congestion on the seafront. And have a thought for the commuters from Rottingdean/Saltdean/Peacehaven who already face congestion at rush hours on other stretches of the A259.
Lawrence
Madeira Drive was closed and a cycle lane put in taking out parking bays etc.
Traffic is now one way and continues with restricted parking.
The cycle lane runs along this stretch and gives a direct link into the Marina.
The A259 has no access except for the main road and I can’t see where a cycle lane could possibly go.
The main road into/out off the Marina is hilly, narrow and very busy with ordinary traffic and buses run into the Marina every few minutes.
Not a clever idea imo.
I’m so glad I moved. The town being carved up to satisfy the vanity of Phelim and his cabal.
Yet more money to be wasted by the council, with their obsession for preventing car drivers anywhere. Cyclists will still continue to ride along the pavements anyway. Many of them think they have the right to ride wherever they choose.
Yesterday I saw three cyclists riding through red traffic lights at the Clock Tower, probably the busiest and most dangerous part of Brighton. It is a miracle that they were not hit by oncoming traffic.
As a regular Brighton seafront cyclist who generally supports cycle infrastructure, I do think this sounds crazy! Is it a mistake?
This seems a bizarre route to prioritize when you already have the very good Madeira Drive cycle lane. Good planning will be essential otherwise traffic from the East could be severely impacted upon, (including buses).
Nathan Adler
Severely impacted traffic including buses is exactly what they want.
They want a congestion charge like they did back in 2013, only there was no need for it then and thrown out.
Plans to enforce a congestion charge, create the congestion in the first place, difficult parking, cycle lanes, poor traffic management, stop a park and ride from going ahead, the list is endless.
Madness there’s already a perfectly good cycle lane
Another cycle lane by the Greens great! Just what we do not need as it runs parallel to Madera Drive which is on the lower sea front road. A stones throw away.The A259 is the only main road left across Brighton to Hove so lets block it up with needless largely unused cycle lanes. More traffic congestion at a standstill will be the result and more pollution as workmen try to keep the city going. Sat needlessly waiting to get to where they need to for work.
Great news!!! 👍 please can you also look into creating a cycle path along the current footpath between Bevendean scout hut and Falmer road. This would enable a cycle route to link to Woodingdean/Rottingdean/coast path/ stanmer/Falmer station/Sussex university/Lewes/ etc. There is already a chalk footpath but a cycle path would really help. Thank you.
nice how people are struggling yet BHCC is wasting so much of our money is unbelievable