In the latest bike lane row, Brighton & Hove transport chiefs hoping to transform a major A-road with a £3m investment in safe active travel infrastructure have been told their plans put “the city in danger of grinding to a halt”, that according to a Conservative councillor who claims it’s “a significant amount of money continuing to be spent on cyclists who often do not stick to cycle lanes” and “encroach on space given to pedestrians, endangering their safety”.

Brighton & Hove City Council is running a consultation on the A259 active travel scheme between Hove and Portslade, the proposal aiming to improve walking, wheeling and cycling along the seafront from Fourth Avenue to Mill Road. To do this, the local authority wants to install a new two-way cycle lane that is separated from traffic, improve the safety of crossing and junctions, upgrade pavements and crossings, and introduce new loading and disabled parking bays.

One westbound lane of the current four-lane road would need to be removed for a 400m stretch between Fourth Avenue and Hove Street to provide space for the changes above, something the council is confident will not impact traffic flow.

In fact, its research states that even removing the lane, the westbound route would still provide a capacity more than 500 vehicles per hour above what was the highest hourly traffic flow recorded in the past decade.

However, speaking to The Argus, Brighton and Hove Conservative Group leader, councillor Alistair McNair, claimed the scheme could see the entire city “grind to a halt”.

“Many residents will see a significant amount of money continuing to be spent on cyclists who often do not stick to the cycle lanes but encroach on space given to pedestrians endangering their safety,” he claimed, adding his belief that the crossings proposed are “not pedestrian-friendly”.

“While the Active Travel England funding can’t be spent on potholes, the council is also spending nearly £3m on this over three years which could have been used in different ways,” he continued. “Labour is always shouting that they are a listening council. With this consultation, they have an opportunity to prove it by ensuring that changes suggested by local residents who will live near the scheme are considered and hopefully adopted, especially shop owners, families and disabled.

“The new cycle lane in Preston Road has also not been well-designed with cyclists writing to me and other councillors describing the accidents they have had.  We hope the build quality of this seafront development will be better. Drivers may be dismayed to hear there will be even more roadworks for years to come with little benefit for them. The city will be in danger of grinding to a halt. 

“Long term, driving through Brighton and Hove may be impacted with increased congestion and slower journey times. This may put off visitors at a time when our high street is struggling with higher taxation. This development may bring improvements but will inevitably cause a great deal of disruption while being built. We hope the council works closely with the developers to hope disruption is kept to a minimum, the work is finished promptly and the channels of communication for residents to express concerns are clear and easy to access.” 

> Protester blocks London to Brighton charity bike ride… after missing Father’s Day plans because of “chaotic” road closures

The Green Party praised the council’s work to bring the proposal to the public, saying it “undoubtedly improves the existing road”, but said the “fact that it is being funded by taking £1.2 million from a previously promised active travel scheme on Marine Parade” was “a cloud hanging over this scheme”.

The Green Group’s Steve Davis said: “When you offer people a safe and fast way to cycle more of their usual journeys, it’s no surprise that it results in more people ditching their cars and getting on their bikes, resulting in better health outcomes for them and economic benefits for the area.

“For all Labour’s talk of reducing inequality – giving these health and economic benefits to the west of the city, only by denying them to the east, must leave a sour taste for those in Kemptown and Whitehawk.”

Campaign group Bricycles has been more positive, calling the project “very positive”, even if it “could be even better with a few minor tweaks”. The cycling campaign group pointed out that “there should be benefits for motorists” and said it will mean “drivers are no longer caught behind cyclists when driving in either direction”.

“Overall the scheme is a very positive one and could be even better with a few minor tweaks,” the group said. “The really good news is that the scheme extends beyond Hove lagoon. This was a really pleasant surprise as we thought the funding only covered the first section.

“We’ve seen the detailed drawings and the overall picture is really positive. The scheme achieves a 3m minimum width along much of the route. The junctions are well designed to give cyclist priority — or to at least allow cyclists to legally cross the junction throughout most of the traffic light phase. The plan includes some good improvements to the public realm and improvements for pedestrians, too.”

Bricycles has raised some concerns that it hopes could be addressed post-consultation, such as “the very small 0.6m buffer between parked cars and the cycle lane” which could put riders at risk of doorings. It also suggested the traffic light pedestrian crossings be set up so users do not have to wait in the middle of the road for the lights to change.