A cycle lane could be built along part of one of Brighton and Hove’s busiest roads.
A mile-long cycle lane is being planned along Old Shoreham Road by the Green-led council.
It will run from BHASVIC by the Dyke Road junction on the border of Brighton and Hove to The Drive in Hove.
Sustrans, the sutainable transport charity, has awarded Brighton and Hove City Council £330,000 to revive the project under the “Links to Schools” scheme.
The council would have to put in £125,000 of its own and complete most of the work by March next year.
A spokesman for the council said: “It marks another green travel coup for the council which recently won £4 million for the Lewes Road corridor from the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund.”
An earlier version of the cycle route was proposed before being rejected the previous Conservative administration.
Under the new scheme, lanes on either side of the road will have low kerbs to physically separate cars, motorbikes, vans and lorries from cyclists and pedestrians.
No parking spaces will be lost along the road which carries up to 27,000 vehicles a day.
Missing link
The council said that two busy junctions on the route will also get safety improvements for pedestrians and cycles.
Councillors believe that the new lanes will fill a vital missing link in the local cycle network, particularly from the seafront in Hove to the Seven Dials area.
Previous surveys of residents along the road have shown that 66 per cent favour a dedicated cycle route.
Councillor Ian Davey, the council’s cabinet member for transport and the public realm, said: “This shows the council meeting manifesto commitments to improve cycling facilities.
“Where we build cycle lanes we want them to be excellent, user-friendly and safe lanes which link to existing routes and facilities and really improve everyone’s experience of moving around the city by bike.
“This is a crucial east-west route across the city but traffic speed and volume can make it an uncomfortable place for cyclists and pedestrians.
“The proposed scheme will make Old Shoreham Road safer for everyone including young people using the many nearby schools.
“When the Grand Avenue cycle lane was threatened last year there was a huge petition asking for the council to extend, rather than reduce, cycle facilities.
“This is our positive response.”
The council will carry out a new consultation before any work starts, subject to official approval by Councillor Davey on Wednesday 17 August.
Glad to hear it will be a proper one like on The Drive, not just a lame attempt to simply paint a white line along the side of the road, for use by cars as a handy parking space (see: Dyke Road, Lewes Road, Preston Street…)
Good that they are renovating it, but still wish they would have reviewed from Applesham Ave in Portslade too. In order to cycle anywhere in portslade you either need to tackle he busy old shoreham road with no cycle guidance, or take the smaller streets which often have narrow roads with cars parked up half on pavements meaning I cannot even walk with my bike down pavement, yet road space often means cars can only get down single file let alone bicycles alongside. I desperately would love to commute, drop my child to nursery in Hove, then continue commute to hospital in Kemp Town, but the portslade part of the journey is just not safe enough to cycle with a child yet.
good i would like the police to now do a big big campaign along the Lewes road the cyclists there woosh past the red lights as if they are pretty disco lights… they spent £700k putting in the cycle lanes now enforce the traffic lights police …
https://www.gov.uk/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82/overview-59-to-71 – See more at: https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2013/01/08/brighton-cyclist-ordered-to-pay-1000-for-ignoring-one-way-sign/18741/comment-page-1#comment-96675