£450k Hove bike lane plan revived

Plans for a £450,000 bike lane along Old Shoreham Road in Hove have been revived.

Council chiefs have approved new proposals for lanes on each side of the road, protected by raised kerbs.

The scheme will run between BHASVIC (Brighton, Hove and Sussex VI Form College), at the junction with Dyke Road, and Shirley Drive.

It will also include improvements to the side road junctions along the route and new pedestrian and cycle crossings at the major junctions.

It will be funded using £330,000 of government sustainable transport grants and £125,000 of Brighton and Hove City Council funds which had been set aside for improvements in Dyke Road.

An earlier version of the scheme was scrapped by the council’s old Conservative leadership last year after criticism from cycling groups that it was unsafe.

Among the opponents at the time was Green councillor and cycling coach Ian Davey, who is now the council’s cabinet member for transport.

Councillor Davey officially approved the new plans at a meeting yesterday.

The new bike lanes form the latest part of plans for a cycle network across the city.

Safety

He also approved measures aimed at improving the safety of the cycle lane in The Drive and Grand Avenue.

The previous Conservative administration planned to remove the cycle lane, saying that it was dangerous.

Councillor Davey was one of those opposing the scrapping of the cycle lane and in March he presented a petition to the council signed by more than 3,500 people.

The opposition parties at the time combined to vote in favour of keeping the lane.

The proposed work will widen the gaps at some of the driveways and crossovers along the route to improve visibility and safety not only for cyclists, but for all road users.

Some parking spaces will be lost although the council said that six extra parking spaces had recently been created in Grand Avenue and Church Road and another outside the Courtlands Hotel in Hove.

Councillor Davey said: “The cycle lane is a safe and popular route down to the seafront but there have been concerns about visibility along some parts of it.

“We promised to do something about that and are now bringing forward a programme of minor works.”

The council is publishing a traffic order this week on the reduction of parking space for members of the public to make representations.