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£900,000 South Coast cycle path proposed linking Bognor Regis and Littlehampton

Proposed path alongside A259 described as ‘a barrier to cycling’

West Sussex County Council is seeking £900,000 from the Coast to Capital local economic partnership for a cycle path linking Bognor Regis with Littlehampton, reports the Bognor Regis Observer. The proposed route would be alongside the busy A259, which was described as ‘a barrier to cycling’ in its current state.

The new 3m wide cycle path and footpath would become part of the national cycle network, replacing an indirect section which diverts cyclists through Yapton. A decision on whether to allocate the money from the partnership’s £9.2m sustainability and resilience funding is expected soon.

Principal Transport Planner at West Sussex County Council, Paul Eagle, said that the A259 was considered ‘a significant barrier to cycling’ due to the high volume of fast-moving traffic, including HGVs.

“This will involve the construction of a 3m-wide combined cycle and footpath alongside the northern edge of the A259 between Church Lane, Climping, and the eastern end of the Bognor Regis relief road at Felpham, along with signing upgrades.

“At the western end it will connect with the new cycle facility into Felpham and new homes served by the relief road. The eastern end will connect with an existing combined cycle and footway along the A259 towards employment and new housing in Littlehampton."

Eagle said that the path would reduce accidents, improve fitness levels and promote cycling. He also said that it could be built this year if the funding could be secured.

The bid is particularly noteworthy in a week in which the focus has primarily been on cycle funding for urban areas via the Cycle City Ambition scheme. Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester will each receive £22 million from the Department for Transport for the period 2015/16 to 2017/18.

While many are critical of this approach, speaking to us earlier in the week, Chris Boardman said that he was in favour of targeting investment as a means of showing what can be achieved. “People get examples,” he told us. “I’m actually a great fan of doing it that way round and in a sense I would take all the money that’s available, put it all into those places and do them absolutely properly and show what this can be.”

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11 comments

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ibike | 9 years ago
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This is really welcome (if they do it well). The current diversion of the NCN2 through Yapton takes you miles out of your way and is neither very pleasant nor very safe.

But please no barriers and no endless giving way at side entrances and junctions.

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pmanc replied to ibike | 9 years ago
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Quote:

Proposed path alongside A259 described as ‘a barrier to cycling’

This reads as if the the proposed path would be a barrier to cycling, which would be weird for a new cycle path (and seems to not be the case from the article).

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Martin Thomas | 9 years ago
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Good news! The A259 is a barrier to cycling pretty much along its whole length. In fact, sod it, let's have a cycle path from Dover to Falmouth and be done with it!

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cbrndc | 9 years ago
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Will it be lit for commuting in the winter and night travel?
Will it be swept of leaves in the autumn?
Will it be cleared of snow and gritted in the winter?
Will it be cleared of rubbish, debris and dog mess on a regular basis?

Shared use is not the way  2

The bit between Portsmouth and anywhere needs looking at.

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corin_ja | 9 years ago
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Why combined cycle and footpath - is it going to be mixed use? If so, bit rubbish. Surely there's enough space to have a footpath in parallel with the cycle path?

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Rupert | 9 years ago
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The bit between Brighton and Shoreham needs looking at as well.

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Rupert | 9 years ago
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The bit between Brighton and Shoreham needs looking at as well.

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Rupert | 9 years ago
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The bit between Brighton and Shoreham needs looking at as well.

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Joeinpoole | 9 years ago
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That seems remarkably cheap to me. The path will be about 8 miles long so the £900k will work out at about £112k per mile or about £64 for each yard of the 3m-wide path. I wouldn't expect that to even cover the cost of the labour let alone the materials to build it.

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ibike replied to Joeinpoole | 9 years ago
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Joeinpoole wrote:

The path will be about 8 miles long.

It actually 4.35 km, or 2.7 miles.

You can see full details here:
http://www.coast2capital.org.uk/images/141212_Funding_Application_for_NC...

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Housecathst | 9 years ago
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This would go some towards making my rides to Brighton and back a bit nicer. The sooner the better please

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