Enforcement on two new red routes in Brighton is set to start on Monday, meaning anyone stopping on the newly painted red lines will be caught on camera and automatically fined.
Cyclists say they are already enjoying the benefits of the red lines as cars are already avoiding stopping on them, meaning they don’t have to leave cycle lanes to get around them.
But some traders say they fear enforcement will make deliveries impossible.
One cyclist tweeted today: “Cycling along Lewes Road has been transformed. No longer forced out of bike lane and into traffic at Elm Grove junction.
“Drivers ignored the double yellows and used the bike lane as a car park but they are taking heed of the red lines. It’s brilliant.”
Another resident replied: “As a cyclist and driver it’s excellent for all as vehciles had to pull out too. Today the only vehicles parked on it were taxis.”
Lines have been painted on London Road from Cheapside next to Aldi to the junction of Preston Road and South Road, to the north of Preston Park.
And in Lewes Road they now stetch from Elm Grove to the Vogue Gyratory. All are initially experimental and will be reviewed after six months.
The penalty for stopping on a red route is £70, reduced to £35 if paid in 14 days, monitored by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).
More designated loading bays for businesses and disabled parking spots for blue badge holders have been put in along London Road ahead of the lines being painted.
The changes were approved by councillors in December at a meeting of the Brighton and Hove City Council Transport and Sustainability Committee.
From April, a six-month consultation will allow residents and traders to give feedback on how the red routes work.
Another cynical measure from those nice people in the Transport Dept to screw money from residents, businesses and tourists and kill of trade in the city. Previously the council has removed parking spaces in London Road ! .By its own admission, BHCC has lost £1m potential revenue by removing parking spaces for the gloriously underused seafront cycle lanes, so they have to make up the shortfall somehow !
Why do we have a Council that works against the best interests of the majority of its residents and businesses and panders to the likes of the cycling lobby in Bricycles and Sustrans ? Can’t wait for VG3 , when the whole of the city centre grinds to a halt under a huge fog of pollutants.
Couldn’t disagree more which this nonsense statement. As a driver it’s brilliant, I can drive though elm grove junction and not have to swerve around endless parked cars outside the chicken shop and at the other end both lanes are now used as no one is blocking the traffic outside the vape shop.
I say red route all major roads. The only people getting tickets are lazy mongs
I drive frequently along these roads and I’ve yet to find any vehicle parked outside these takeaways (and let us not forget shops), that has caused any kind of traffic hold ups.
And the double red lines along most of Lewes Road are pointless anyway as it’s a main road where your can’t stop anyway!
I feel this is just another ruse to rob the usual easy targets!
The cash cow motorists!
The thought of an irate Simon Philips driving to Crawley to buy a cake has made me chuckle.
Not only that, to ANGRILY buy a cupcake. One with sprinkles. He then proceeds to bite into it with disdain.
No vehicles improperly parked on Lewes Road ? You clearly have not been paying attention.
Hmm, there are often vehicles parked on the Lewes road, suggest you’ve been lucky not seeing them tbh.
If you cant stop along lewes road anyway, red lines shouldnt make any difference
Mongs is a deeply offensive word
Fully agree, Dyke road next 🙂
The last sentence says it all really.
‘lazy mongs’ is basically hate crime against the disabled …exactly what you’d expect from the ableist cycling zealots.
Then they will introduce congestion charging. It’s been the watermelon plan all along.
More acquisitive behaviour by our greedy council.
Don’t break the rules of the red route and you won’t be fined!
Why is that such a hard concept to understand?
And what are the traders meart to do about deliveries?
Do you really want to see the whole of London Road empty and boarded up?
They can use the multiple designated delivery bays!
If the loading bays are full?
Then it’s tough luck. Come back later. The entire point of these is to stop the people who think “fug it, it’s only 10 minutes, I’ll park where is convenient for me and no one else”. That behaviour will now stop.
Yes and mostly with cars with the driver ‘just nipping into the shop’.
Mmmm…I guess they could always use the Loading Bays 🙄
Lewes Rd and London Rd now look like third world siht holes and would be greatly improved by the RAF using them for bombing practice
Just invoice every ticket back to the council for local trade harm
These 2 roads have been transformed. Traffic is a lot lighter than it was so obviously a massive success.
The odd delivery driver needs to walk and extra couple of yards, cry me a river. The Albanians have to park their cars properly, again cry me a river.
These roads are shopping areas.
They will now give up!!!
These areas predominantly service the local student populations and other local residents. No-ones driving from out-of-town to go to Taco Bell, KFC, or a nail bar.
Obviously an office worker, layabout or benefit recipient. “The odd delivery driver needs to walk and extra couple of yards” You try it with 40 drops.
Great news, illegally parked cars slow down the traffic for everyone, buses, cars and cyclists. Let’s get them on all the major bus routes in the city and stop a minority of selfish drivers penalise the majority of road users.
This will be the final nail in the coffin for all the businesses struggling to survive in Brighton’s most neglected thoroughfare for decades!
I pity that fantastic cake shop who benefit Brighton and London Road with their superb cakes!
How is any business supposed to trade when so many obstacles are put up in their way???
It’s so unfair!
It will be the final straw for them and will leave London Road as nothing more than a derelict ex shopping centre!
But I guess this will be just the excuse to turn London Road into one long student flats ghetto!
The council needs to be helping businesses to thrive, not hindering them to the benefit of students!
People live, work and pay full time council tax every month in this city, and its time the council catered for everyone – not the few, especially those able enough to use cycles!
We will just do what the council had forced us to do since the Greem administration, and take our custom out of town or to Crawley, Eastbourne or even Burgess Hill, who don’t rob motorists at every opportunity!!!
London Rd started its decline when traffic coming into Brighton was forced up Viaduct Rd. Combine that with the mess of bus lanes around St Peter’s and its future was set. I seem to remember a lot of this was done under a Labour councillor called Gill. A semi retired Phlebotomist who had zero knowledge about traffic. Ah well.
Take a look at London Rd and see the new businesses that have sprung up and are thriving since the co-op became student housing and following the other housing association/student properties since. These include new restaurants, new specialist food markets, the Open Market finally getting its act together.
All this is happening because of the high density of residents led by the student pound who don’t drive to London road because they live there. Same is true to a lesser extent with Lewes Road.
The student housings is a success story and is saving these streets.
Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
Moron reply – he’s right!
Red lines have worked for years in london and keeps london moving, london hasn’t lost any tourist trade, businesses are not loosing money or trade, if anything traffic flows better and the only people who moan about the red lines are the ones that stupidly park on them then cry like a baby when they get a ticket, red lines are good for keeping cities moving. They have been successful in london so I don’t blame other cities who have problems with inconsiderate parking to adopt the scheme and keep traffic in their cities moving. The other people that will moan are the delivery drivers that have to walk further…..boohoo, suck it up buttercup, find a resident bay, loading bay or a single/double yellow and u can load for up to 20 mins, if the delivery takes longer then you can just send proof of the delivery to the council and they will cancel the fine
If there’s any congestion, it’s been caused by the road system that is specifically designed to rob motorists!
As – per – usual!
Quite the contrary. Fully enforcing red routes and making cycling down these roads safer will get people out of cars and onto bikes.
Less cars on the road means less traffic.
Less traffic means it’s safer to cycle.
And so on…
There will always be people who need to drive, of course.
I wish they’d put red lines on Portland Rd.
There is quite a difference in road width though being almost double its girth.
These roads are shopping areas.
They will now give up!!!
Saying the same things multiple times doesn’t make it any more valid than the first time.
Especially when your wrong.
Parroting is a really poor way to argue a point Simon, especially when there is a lot of academic evidence that suggests quite the opposite of what your opinion is; shops are not affected by restrictions of this kind – people who want to go to specific shops, will do so, regardless of how they must get there.
They need to be put in boundary road hove ..whilst walking down there recently, there is no end of bad parking . On double yellows zig zags the lot …and not a warden in sight
Will the bins be removed from the loading bays on Lewes Road please. Deliveries need to use these spaces for loading. The bins should not be in the loading bays.
That’s a very good reason. I suggest speaking to your Ward Councillor about that one, should be able to support that quite easily.
I just hope that the cyclist spends as much money there as i used to. Another no go area is born.
Or you could just park properly ?
The routes didn’t allow parking beforehand. It’s just now that the rules are being enforced.
Cry me a river.
I’m sure your fiver will unlikely be missed.
Progress. The shops will be fine. If they rely on effectively being a drive through then they are in the wrong place.
Deliveries will have to be better thought out.
Traffic flowing better will not harm Brighton. Urban roads in the UK are often a free for all – It makes the cities unpleasant to drive around, snarls up the roads, delays buses and makes it unpleasant for residents and pedestrians alike.
I was cycling along Lewes Road the other day and there are still some double yellow lines contained within the red route. These are behind the bins! Rather than move them to paint the lines they left them.
Guess they couldn’t move them at the time they were painted, still, you’d think they would follow up on that one.
I’ve never had a problem with the parked cars along Lewes road as a driver but often as a cyclist there are a load of cars parked by the chicken takeaway. It’s never been a big deal though because the speed limit is 20 mph so you’re generally cycling a similar speed to the cars anyway so can merge in easily. It just seems like another excuse for an automated cash-cow to me with little benefit to the public