An artist’s impression of how a new temporary seafront cycle lane could look have been released.
Councillors are being asked tomorrow to approve the two way segregated lane from the Aquarium roundabout in Brighton to Medina Villas in Hove.
Motorised traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction to make way for the lane, and the existing cycle path on the footpath will be removed to make more space for pedestrians.
The cycle lane will be separated from traffic by an island planted with either wildflowers or trees. Some parking will also be removed.
Another temporary two-way cycle lane is proposed in Preston Road, taking a lane of traffic from Argyle Road to just north of Dyke Road Drive.
The existing narrow cycle lane there, which is littered with trees and lamposts, will be taken off the pavement.
The details are included in the council’s interim Covid-19 response local cycling andwalking infrastructure plan, which is going before Brighton and Hove City Council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee tomorrow afternoon.
The report, written by transport consultants Mott MacDonald, says: “Local authorities have been given a strong instruction from the Department for Transport (DfT) to implement ambitious schemes which provide a significant reallocation of road space to pedestrians and cyclists.
“These measures are required in order to provide space for active travel in response to Covid-19. This is an issue for all transport authorities in the country to address, for example in creating space for people to socially distance.
“However, the high levels of bus use in Brighton and Hove and government advice to avoid using public transport means the need for alternative modes of travel is particularly important as businesses reopen.”
It adds: “The Interim LCWIP reviews all temporary measures currently under consideration by the council. It also identifies other locations where the need for temporary walking and cycling measures should be considered in accordance with government guidance.
“The types of infrastructure that would be possible on each of the routes identified has then been reviewed. The design suggestions provided are high-level and would be subject to design development and road safety assessment were they to be taken further.
“Similarly, costings have not been prepared at this stage and this, together with available funding, will be a factor in determining how many measures can be taken forward.”
The report says the council is also exploring the possibility of more cycle lanes in other parts of the city, including Lewes Road, Marine Parade and other sections of the Old Shoreham Road.
Other recommendations in the report include restricting traffic into the Old Town arond the clock, closing Queens Road to southbound motorised traffic and closing Gardner Street and Sydney Street on weekdays as well as weekends.
Pedestrian crossings will now stop traffic as soon as the button is pressed.
Closing St James;s Street to motorised traffic is not recommended to be progressed because it would have limited impact.
However, more work is being done on the possibility of closing streets around schools at drop off and pick up times, known as the School Streets scheme.
These cycle lanes don’t look very temporary to me their are a bit like the ones in the drive and old Shoreham road between Shirley drive and the upper drive .
The cost of removing them would be greater than putting in so they end up making permanent.
It would make more common sense to put them on the lower promenade from the west hove boundary to the Brighton pier and then on the wide pavement pass volts railway to black rock and keep the road two lanes wide in each direction.
The picture isn’t accurate. Two lanes of traffic there usually are quite slow. If this is reduced to one lane then will be polluting slow-moving traffic most of the time
Yes, the current system doesn’t work well. And this proposal will increase safe pedestrian space along the seafront. However, it will also increase pollution – even if lots of people give up their cars and cycle. This is more of a through road, so that option won’t be open to many.
This is a short-term (hopefully) covid vs climate change issue. If we do this here, we will need more trees etc to offset the increased pollution. If we do this in, say, 10 years many cars will then be electric and much less pollution. So my vote is to wait and get more pedestrian and cycle space without the pollution increase
This would be the best thing for Brighton. Promoting cycling is so important. I feel we live in a society that puts cars before cycling and it really is the wrong way round. I know people who drive just 2 to 3 miles because they feel nervous with the current situation with cycle paths and roads. I also know experienced confident cyclists who are anxious about cycling home on such a precarious cycle path along the sea front. It definitely needs improvement- Cycling and pedestrians do not mix.
The picture is just like those pictures of Valley Gardens, with almost no traffic. The truth is, it will be rammed, which won’t make it somewhere I would want to walk or cycle (and I’m a regular walker and cyclist around Brighton). It’s great that cars and buses are becoming less polluting, with things like solar recharging for Big Lemon buses for example. And power-assisted bikes are making cycling easier for more people in hilly Brighton. I’m still not sure this cycle lane is the right idea in the right place at the right time. Cyclists and pedestrians should both be on the prom all the way along, with priority for pedestrians, and enforcement if necessary. This looks like it’s going to make a bad situation worse.
This is definitely a step in the right direction. The existing cycle lane it too small even before Covid plus the pedestrians were always straying into it because of the lack of space. Other comments about slow moving traffic can be solved by reducing the number of turnings on and off and taking away some of the sets of traffic lights. The sea front is a big plus side of Brighton and better,greener accessiblity can only be a good thing for this city.
Has the ambulance service been consulted? The A259 is used by patient transport ambulances & 999 ones too I bet.
This proposal chokes off use by all the emergency services needing to escape traffic elsewhere – a worry!
this money should be used for nhs, affordable housing and to remove statues
The Counbcil cannot reallocate money given for a particular purpose as the article makes clear.
Those in the planning department obviously have too much time on their hands.It is a shame they couldn’t put it into doing something about the thousands waiting for homes to be built.
It will be intetesting when Buses have to be diverted from North Street and have to travel the Seafront let alone large Delivery Vehicles.
Why not tell the truth and say this is a permanent move.
This will only add to the problems with the propsed junction at The Aquarium Roundabout.
Which brings up the point of where is the money coming from.I just hope it gets used and anyone then found cycling on the promenade should be fined.The Enforcement Officers should have less to do now more people are vaping.
When will the long anticipated Congestion Charging be introduced?
This looks amazing! It is what they should have done years ago – bicycles are a much more efficient way to use road space than cars, so the more people who can move along the seafront by bike, the more space there will be for everyone, including those who need to drive for whatever reason. We can’t expect people to make the shift to cycling if there’s nowhere safe to do it, so this kind of high-quality infrastructure is absolutely essential.
I’ve gone from being concerned, through being angry, to just laughing.
How did we elect such an incompetent council?
Why did I vote for them?
How can anyone fail to see just how stupid this is at the present time, and an act of self harm?
Who is being fooled by the word ‘temporary’?
How are we not outraged by the lack of consultation?
How are normal people expected to get from east to west or west to east across this city?
How are shoppers to get to Churchill Square and where is the tourist traffic to go?
What income is to replace that lost though us making visitors increasingly unwelcome?
If you don’t like cars – and I don’t – then where are the park and ride schemes?
What alternative cross-city routes are available if you live in land-locked Saltdean or Peacehaven?
Where is the long term strategic public transport plan?
What sort of cyclists will use this route? (I am a cyclist myself, happy with the existing cycle lane).
The idiots riding bikes on the prom will still be riding their bikes three abreast on the prom, knowing they are there to enjoy the sea view.
The West Street bottleneck is already being narrowed further by a new wide pedestrian crossing – when all they needed to do is to reopen the underpass now the shelter hall works are complete.
You can almost hear the smug stupidity radiating out of the Zoom meetings. They’ve ticked more strategy boxes on their mission statement, regardless of the fact the UK economy is about to go into the worst recession in history and the council’s own income will crash further. These are desperate councillors, determined to spend what cash they have.
The problem with lockdown, is that it has sent our decision makers, at home and still being paid, into some fantasy world completely out of touch with reality.
What a clear and accurate comment.
There has been no consultation at all. Traffic still has to come into the city to make deliveries and for the few remaining visitors to come into town. There has been no development of Park and Ride schemes, Trams or any other viable alternative.
I am a cyclist but this has to be the most appalling decision ever from the council. This together with the Old Shoreham Rd scheme will utterly kill what remains of the retail centre in Brighton & Hove.
The air quality in Brighton was blissful over lockdown and has now returned to a toxic soup. I plan to move to Devon in the near future as I simply don’t enjoy breathing poison. If the residents continue to vote to make each other ill with vehicle pollution then it’s their funeral. I think campaigners should create health warnings for YouTube about this city to deter tourists from visiting for their own protection. Aside from its liberal LGBT politics it’s a traffic clogged backward looking ghastly place.
Looks like it will be much safer and much easier to social distance with this change. In the summer the existing cycle lanes are swarmed with tourists, and the prominade isn’t wide enough for the number of people who want to use it. There needs to be more capacity, this is a good way of doing it.
In terms of space efficiency, cars using this road are so inefficient compared to the tourists and cyclists piling ontop of eachother in normal non-covid times. It’s only right we shouldn’t use 60% of the space for 10% of the occupants.
Another brain dead idea from a totally incompetent council. Just keep on driving the nails into coffin of the city’s economy
Brighton and Hove Council clearly don’t want me around any more. I’m too much of a minority to bother about. At 82 I’ve lived here all my life, am now disabled so can’t ride a bike, and my mobility scooter isn’t allowed on cycle lanes. So I’ll just stay at home out of everyone’s way as it seems that it is the only option.
The current cycle lane along the Kingsway weaves dangerously close to pedestrians. I think the creation of a separate cycle lane along the road is long overdue and should make it much safer for your scooter on the pavement.
using COVID as an excuse to by-pass proper consultation reeks of corruption and improper use of COVID money. The bike lanes will become permanent, not temporary.
another ‘artist’s impression, where is the road camber ? where are the buses ? totally impracticable idea again, like Brighton station’s move of the taxis rank to the back, causing another traffic disaster. Can’t we get someone with some traffic sense on our council ?
Will make it even more dangerous for the emergency services. Where will all the tourists go ? It really is a bad move.
There is already a perfectly good cycle lane streatching from the far end of Madiera drive to Hove lagoon which I am regular and appreciative user of, what is the point of the new scheme?
The point of the new scheme is to create congestion artificially along a trunk road to justify further punitive measures (some financial) on drivers who have little choice, e.g., salesmen and women with a samples and a big patch to cover. It’s of little or no practical use to cyclists like me, just as the wider pavements in North Street made it almost impossible for buses to pass so the diesel ones belch out more fumes and the pollution has gone up so much that I actively avoid it. The council is full of people with more money than sense who obviously care little about the real life problems they create.
Old Shoreham Road cycling lane, one cyclist per mile when it’s busy. Taken out a whole lane of traffic for that. Clearly, waste of public money. It’s an eyesore too.
King’s Road cycling lane. Between the Pier and West Street it can be justified although it will suffocate traffic and those that live around. But what they’ve done further down looks like the work of insane people. The pavement there is ultra wide, plus there is an extra pedestrian walk by the seafront and a cycling lane already in place. It’s an eyesore that makes no sense. Someone needs to hold these people accountable, conducting proper studies is necessary before splashing out public funds.
there has been no consultation at all. Traffic still has to come into the city to make deliveries and for the few remaining visitors to come into town. There has been no development of Park and Ride schemes, Trams or any other viable alternative.It has just taken me 40 minutes to drive along from St Georges Road to Hove With one cyclist in the Cycle Lane this is crazy.
I am a cyclist but this has to be the most appalling decision ever from the council. This together with the Old Shoreham Rd scheme will utterly kill what remains of the retail centre in Brighton & Hove.