Councilors are urged to keep the ‘temporary’ Old Shoreham Road cycle path in Hove, as the government could withhold almost £ 280,000 in funding for cycling training.
A committee rejected plans to make the temporary track permanent last month, but next week a subcommittee will be asked to overturn the decision.
And meanwhile, activists, city officials, green councilors and even a government minister have stepped up pressure on those opposing the controversial bike path.
Brighton and Hove City Council has called a meeting of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability (ETS) Emergency Subcommittee at 11 a.m. on Tuesday 10 August.
Three advisers – one for Greens, Labor and Conservatives – will examine a 34-page report in which officials again recommend keeping the bike path.
If councilors vote again to remove the temporary lane, officials have suggested keeping the section between The Drive and Holmes Avenue.
The previous decision came after a heated four-hour debate at Hove Town Hall when a series of other “active travel” measures were passed.
Now officials have told advisers it will cost £ 50,000 to restore the road and put other government funding at risk.
The Department of Transport (DfT) told the council it would need additional assurances on the council’s commitment to actively travel before releasing additional funds.
Proposals to be presented to councilors on Tuesday include adjusting zigzag markings at various crossing points along the route, adding cycle priority signals at crossroads and “improved” crosswalks.
Other “bushings” are also offered at various locations along the route as well as replacements for those previously removed.
The council wants to move the median at the corner of Olive Road and create a temporary one from the water barriers to shorten the right turn lane.
The “temporary” Old Shoreham Road cycle path was installed for nearly a mile and a half on either side of Old Shoreham Road on Monday, May 11 of last year.
The program was funded by the government’s Active Travel Emergency Fund, which set up fund programs designed to allocate more road space for cyclists and pedestrians.
The move, during the first nationwide coronavirus lockdown, was in response to the government’s instruction for people to find alternatives to public transport where possible.
Brighton and Hove has received over £ 660,000 for active travel measures, including changes to Brighton seafront.
Part of a cycle path – between Palace Pier and the bottom of West Street – has been removed after being accused of delays in bus services. The changes to Madeira Drive have also drawn criticism.
Critics focused on the lack of consultation, the disproportionate problems created for people with disabilities and the artificial creation of unnecessary traffic jams that better planning would have avoided.
A year ago, the council received an additional £ 2.3million from the government’s active travel fund for other work, including an extension of the Old Shoreham Road cycle path to Portslade.
The £ 2.3million included £ 249,000 for ‘improvements’ to the Old Shoreham Road cycle path.
A report to the subcommittee meeting on Tuesday said: “If these funds are not used as intended in the grant application, then the board will have to request a reallocation of the DfT, although the deadlines to design, consult and implement. implementing an alternative program by March 2022 would not be feasible.
“The reallocation within the city is not certain and, potentially, this grant would be lost.
“If the committee agrees to remove the temporary Phase 1 cycle path on Old Shoreham Road, it will cost around £ 50,000.
“However, if the section between Holmes Avenue and The Drive grant is retained, this will be reduced to £ 20,000.
“There is no funding provided to cover this cost and active travel funding cannot be used for this purpose.
“Therefore, this additional cost should come from the existing capital resources in the local transport plan and the expenditure plans for this investment program should therefore be re-prioritized to take account of this additional expenditure.
“The DfT said in a letter to all transport authorities that programs must be allowed to sleep and tested under normal traffic conditions.
“Removing schemes prematurely without having time to demonstrate a difference would waste taxpayers’ money.
“The DfT can and has sanctioned councils that removed active travel measures from Phase 1 by removing funding and / or removing access to future active travel funding cycles.”
West Sussex County Council would not be allowed to bid for funds from ‘tranche three’ of the government’s active travel fund.
The subcommittee report said that an “equality impact assessment” found that removing the cycle path would “have a disproportionate impact on families, especially children, women and people with disabilities. who use the lanes as a safe and protected cycle path to access the city and local educational settings.
“Comments from the recent public consultation indicate that more people who previously did not feel safe or confident cycling on Old Shoreham Road are now doing so, following the introduction of protected cycle lanes, including people with disabilities.
“It is likely that these people will again use other modes of transport to move around the area if the temporary cycle lanes are removed.
“This can increase congestion and lead to poor air quality in the area. It will also have an impact on the level of physical activity and the health of people.
When councilors debated the issue last month, Green Councilor Jamie Lloyd said all high schools in Hove are north of the road and cannot be relocated. He said the children used the bike path to reach them.
The report indicates that 6,171 elementary and secondary students at eight schools in the Old Shoreham Road area could directly benefit from the cycle path.
Over 4,000 people responded to a public consultation on improving and expanding active travel programs in Brighton and Hove.
The Old Shoreham Road cycle path drew the most negative or critical comments.
Councilors closest to the road are also reporting an unprecedented number of voter complaints since its installation.
The Emergency Environment, Transportation and Sustainability Subcommittee is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, August 10 at Hove Town Hall. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-08-09 05:26:14
