Safety improvements to Hove's controversial Cycle Freeway will reduce car parking space, and are a victory for cycling

Cllr Alex Phillips w protest petition 19 Feb

18 August 2011. Safety improvements to the "cycle freeway" on Grand Avenue/The Drive have been given the go-ahead by Brighton & Hove City Council. The decision is victory for cycling, as it is a result of protests earlier this year when the then Conservative-led council proposed scrapping the cycle freeway (which is designated official cycle route no 82). The proposal was defeated after local and national protest. In the 5th May Local Elections the Conservatives lost power to the Greens, who had been at the forefront of moves to protect the cycle route.

Today, a council spokesperson said: "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. Although the measures will involve a small loss of parking space, six extra parking spaces have recently been created in Grand Avenue/Church Road and another outside the Courtlands Hotel in Hove."

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

Councillor Ian Davey, cabinet member for transport and the public realm, 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.

"Residents strongly support cycle lanes and we are committed to improving routes such as completing links to the north of the city and developing routes to the east and west."

In March, councilor Davey presented a petition to council with over 3,500 signatures from residents asking to retain the Grand Avenue/The Drive cycle lane. Councillors resolved to keep the route and install any improvements.

Old Shoreham Road Cycle Lane Scheme consultation begins

The news of improvements to The Drive came a day after council commenced consultations on its plans to revive the Old Shoreham Road Cycle Lane Scheme. At a special meeting on 17 August, Cllr Ian Davey agreed to begin consultation on proposals to improve cycling on the Old Shoreham Road. The previous Conservative administration shelved plans for a major cycle lane on this route after nearly £100,000 had been spent developing the proposals.

The improvements will be part funded by a successful bid to national transport charity Sustrans for £330,000 under their ‘Links to School’ initiative.

Councillor for Goldsmid ward Alex Phillips commented: "The campaign to create more cycle lanes, increase the number of pedestrian crossings and improve road safety in Goldsmid has been one that I have been involved in together with the local community for many years. The development of this east-west route in the City will encourage more people to cycle to school or work, and will make those who are already regular cyclists on our roads feel much safer."

Councillor Ian Davey said: “The proposal includes a segregated cycle lane from BHASVIC to The Drive, as well as pedestrian improvements to the junctions with The Drive. Thanks to successful high-profile public campaigns, such as the recent 'save The Drive cycle lane', we have begun to restore the city’s reputation as city of excellence for sustainable transport, and we look forward to attracting more funding for this purpose."

Green councillors' petition forces debate on cycle lane safety in Hove

Alex Phillips collecting signatures

22 March 2011. Green councillors Ian Davey and Alex Phillips will present a 3500-strong petition on the threatened Hove cycle lanes for debate at this Thursday’s Full Council meeting. It comes after the Tory administration revealed plans to spend £1.1m removing the lanes.

The councillors will also be seeking council support for a series of safety recommendations. These will secure the future of the cycle lane by examining safety concerns and completing missing links to enable cyclists to access it safely.

Councillor Davey said: “The public have expressed overwhelming support for retaining these cycle lanes on The Drive and Grand Avenue. We are calling on the Conservative administration to respond by releasing the safety audits into the public domain and to commit to addressing any safety concerns that exist.”

“We would also like to see improved access by finishing links to the north, and work completed around a cycle lane along the Old Shoreham Road - which also had significant public support. We hope that the Conservative administration will take this opportunity to once and for all commit not to digging up these lanes.

“Money would be better spent improving rather than scrapping cycle infrastructure in this city.”

Cllr Phillips said: “Let's give people the choice to be able to ride their bike on the road, and make cycling safer and easier so that we can truly become the cycle town we were once accredited for being.” (more >>>)

Victory for opposition to Conservative Budget - and The Drive Cycle lane is safe for now

UPDATE 11pm. Earlier tonight Brighton and Hove's Conservative Budget was voted down by combined Green/Labour opposition and Green/Labour amendments were voted through. Full analysis is promised in tomorrow's Argus, but so far as The Drive Cycle lane goes: it is safe for the time being.

Highlights of the amendments pushed through by Green/Labour councillors:

* Council tax will be frozen rather than dropped by 1% as the Conservatives proposed

* The Drive/Grand Avenue (D2) cycle lane won't be demolished (at cost £1.1m).

* Residents parking permits won't be reduced


* Additional funding est. at £2.5m will be available for front line services including school support, care, community safety etc.

The Greens lost their bid to allocate £200,000 to planning for a sustainable city. They couldn't get agreement with the other two major parties. The parties wanted the £200,000 spent as follows (according to Brighton Argus, whose reporter Tim Ridgeway provided excellent on-line live coverage of the budget, well done Argus):
"Tories - spend a small amount on new library books, money for a bus study and for sports development
Labour - for works on Brighton seafront east of palace pier
Greens - to support the planning team which they see as vital for the future growth of city."

Personally, I can't wait for a Green controlled council - just imagine what a city planned around sustainable development - rather than ad-hoc fixes - might look like, and be like to live in.

Green Councillors and Candidates outside Brighton Town Hall 3 March 2011

Cycle protesters join the Brighton Stop the Cuts protest as Greens and Labour vow to overturn Conservative budget

Left, Stop the cuts march in Hove, Cllr Bill Randall on the right

3 March 2011. Cyclists protesting cycle lane closures joined the Stop the Cuts protest outside Brighton Town Hall today, as Greens and Labour promised to overturn the Conservative budget.

The budget proposes £34m in cuts, and reduction in council tax of 1% with loss of hundreds of jobs in front line services - while spending £1.1m on ripping out cycle lanes and building doing up car parks. Prominent among the marchers were Green Councillors. Councillor Bill Randall, leader of the Greens, said, as he went into the full council meeting at 4.30 pm: "Greens and Labour will overturn this budget."

Speakers in front of Brighton Town Hall, Cyclists bring up the rear of the march

Around a dozen cyclists met outside Hove Town Hall at 3pm and cycled to King's House, along the Drive, where they joined other
cyclists among over 100 Stop the Cuts protesters. The protest march was led by the deep blue banner of Brighton and Hove Unison, and followed by banners and placards of the GMB, Brighton and Hove Green Party, National Union of Teachers, the Socialist Party, Brighton & Hove Unemployed Workers, Benefits Campaign and others.

Bricycles warns Conservatives of being seen as "anti-cycling"

Campaign group Bricycles today warned the Conservative administration of Brighton and Hove that their proposal to demolish the Hove Cycle freeway risks being seen as "anti-cycling" and is at odds with their 2010 election manifesto.

Bricycles is the largest cycling campaign group in Brighton and Hove and is affiliated to CTC, the UK’s national cycling organisation. Bricycles has been giving input into plans to improve cycling.

In a press release titled: "Grand Avenue: from Grand Design to ground zero in 3 years?" Becky Reynolds, Bricycles Campaigns Officer, called on the Council to remedy the problem areas rather than demolish the cycle lane three years after they were installed - at a total cost of installation and demolition of "about £2 million". (more>>>)

Fascinating video of cycle freeway in operation, Utrecht

A fascinating video of a busy junction in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where 33% of journeys are made by bicycle. Note the frequent public transport shown in the background, very rapid connections cross city. Cars are not banned here: people simply choose to travel by tram or cycle. Its easier, quicker, cleaner and safer. A commitment to an integrated sustainable transport system is needed.

(Posted to further the argument in favour of cycle freeways and an integrated sustainable transport plan in Brighton and Hove, and specifically to promote the development of a network of cycle freeways and in support of the Save Hove Cycle Lanes campaign).

Cllr Mary Mears says she's "not anti-cycling" - safety is reason to scrap cycle Lane, but admits safety improved

Councillor Mary Mears

25 February. Earlier today Conservative council leader Mary Mears said the reason for the plans to demolish The Drive Cycle lane was for safety, and she expected the cost to be less than the £1.1m budgeted.

Cllr Mears said: "I am not anti-cycling by any means – I think that the seafront cycle route is a fantastic resource for example and is used by thousands every day. We are also actively looking into the possibility of a ‘Boris Bikes’ type cycle hire scheme here in Brighton & Hove as we fully recognise the health and environmental benefits that cycling can bring.... However, my primary concern as Council Leader has to be ensuring the safety of residents."

These safety concerns are contradicted by the statistics she quoted in her blog.

I checked Cllr Mears blog on the advice of the Council Press Office when I asked for clarification today. Cllr Mears makes 5 main points:
1. The cycle lane was not devised under her administration, it was agreed by the previous (Labour Admin). (It came out of the 2000 Local Transport Plan to promote sustainable transport).
2. She says the lane is not well used though does not back this up.
3. She says the Drive Cycle lane is unsafe. But she contradicts this in the next sentence: "There remain serious safety concerns with the cycle lane. Thankfully, the number of accidents have dropped slightly over the last couple of years but there were still 42 casualties between 2008 and 2010. For what was originally sold as being a safe segregated space for cyclists, to me this is completely unacceptable."
Dedicated readers of this blog will already know that the Argus printed the casualty figures which showed a 20% drop in accidents along the drive since the cycle freeway was built.

“between 2005 and 2007 there were a total of 41 accidents and 52 casualties along the entire stretch. Between 2008 and 2010 this dropped to 32 accidents and 42 casualties’ Brighton Argus

To make matters worse for Councillor Mears' safety argument, this significant reduction in casualties comes over a period when cycle casualties have been rising in the rest of city. This is partly to be expected as cycling increased by 27%, but also due to the haphazard provision of cycling facilities in the city. Cycle lanes disappear in the most dangerous places, in pinch points.

Points 4 and 5 deal mainly the money to demolish the lanes - she thinks it will cost a lot less than £1.1m  and that includes provision for £300k they might not have to repay to Cycling England because she says, "the quango is about to be abolished", and it is a one-off payment.

Mears makes it clear cycling is not something she does. "All of these issues beg the question as to why the cycle lane was installed in the first place. Bricycles stated in their submission to the consultation at the time that ‘Grand Avenue is currently not a difficult road to cycle in for people with average cycling skills.’ And cyclists have told me that this complete segregation is actually counter-productive as it makes both drivers and cyclists less aware of each other, particularly at the road junctions and where driveways cross over."

Cllr Mears does not refer to the argument in favour of segregated cycle lanes - they are there to encourage the less able cyclists, the young or timid in a country where cars have priority on the urban roads (unlike the on the continent).

Cllr Mears says the route is not well used, but doesn't supply figures. According BH Council website: "Monitoring in June 2008 indicates around 250 cyclists per day". This is set against thousands who use the seafront route. But the Drive route was never fully implemented, eg safe crossing at Old Shoreham Road (OSR) not installed, OSR cycle route cancelled altogether.

She does touch on what is probably the real issue for her car driving constituents: cyclists coming at speed down the cycle free-way make it hard for cars to come off the road and into their driveways. They've got to wait for a gap. And if the cycle free-way takes off, with cyclists flying up and down the route from South Downs to the sea, this can only get worse.

So far as being "not anti-cycling" goes - my blog entry of earlier shows that the Conservative admin is at least pro-car and wants to reverse sustainable transport policy. They are happy with cyclists so long as they do not affect the rights of the car.

Cllr Mears has not mentioned what might replace this cycle route, but from what she says, quoting Adam Trimmington's piece in the Argus "it is ‘the wrong lane in the wrong place'" it sounds like she has got it in for the whole cycle lane from the South Downs to the sea. No plans to replace it with any kind of cycle route. Not even sensible talk of making it a mixed use. The wrong lane in the wrong place? What is the right lane in the right place, to give access to the Downs and the sea and connect both with Hove station? We need a cycle free-way.

http://marymears.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/further-comments-on-the-grand-avenuedrive-cycle-lane/

Save Hove The Drive Cycle Lane next protest meeting 3pm, 3 March 2011, Hove Town Hall

25 February 2011. The next Save The Drive Cycle lane protest will meet outside Hove Town Hall (Norton Road Hove) - 3pm, 3rd March. As well as asking the council to end plans to scrap The Drive cycle lanes, the protest seeks to get change in policy toward cycling. The past year has seen cancellation of two important cycle lanes and in January the administration tried to repeal the council's commitment to "promoting modal shift" in sustainable transport.

Cyclists will cycle to Brighton Town hall, a couple of miles away, to join a multi-platform protest against the Council budget plans. (Stop the Cuts protest will meet 3pm at Kings House, march to Brighton Town Hall for 4pm).

For updates on the planned Cycle Protest, join this Facebook Group:
Save The Drive Cycle Lane
For details on Stop the Cuts:
Stop the Cuts Protest

Guardian takes up the Hove Cycle Lanes story

I'm delighted to say the Guardian online took up this story - I submitted "Rubbing salt into the wound". They subbed out plenty, especially my possibly pernickety (moi!?!) detailing of stonewalling at the BHCC leaders office. But their intro is probably better than mine for an audience that might not have known much about the story.

Here it is: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2011/feb/23/brighton-hove-council-cycle-highway?commentpage=all#start-of-comments

I've been checking the comments maybe too frequently - a respectable 83 comments. I liked the portentious tone of the last comment I saw tonight:

• DBluge

  25 February 2011 12:20AM
  Cyclists bide your time.. When petrol hits thirty pounds a gallon the roads are going to empty, very fast, and the whole network will be yours to ride on.
  The upper echelons will have to be disabused of the idea that they can swan around in big cars, while the poor cycle and walk. I suspect they will be quite quick on the uptake - once the sky starts to rain bricks.
  Unfortunately even a fast moving cyclist ripping past is likely to incur resentment from the more static members of the populace, so it will be hard-hats all round!
  

Save Hove Cycle Lanes: Rubbing salt into the wound

Protesters outside BH council offices

Conservatives confirmed their determination to demolish a flagship cycle freeway in Brighton and Hove and a “Save The Drive Cycle Lane” protest is launched. Russell Honeyman asks: “Why?”

22 February 2011. Last night the Conservative leader of minority controlled Brighton and Hove City Council confirmed her determination to demolish a flagship cycle freeway in the seaside town of Hove.

In response to my question about whether the plans would go ahead despite protests, Council leader Mary Mears said: “The proposal to remove the cycle lane from Grand Avenue and The Drive responds to concerns raised by residents and users alike … We remain committed to the safety of the cycling fraternity. Unlike some other cycle lanes in the city, the Grand Avenue/Drive scheme is not well used or appreciated. Furthermore its removal will improve traffic flow along the coast road from Shoreham Harbour and across the city.”

We’re talking about something rather more than a simple cycle lane. It is a “European-style cycle freeway”, for the most part segregated from traffic by being set into the pavement behind the on street parking. It was completed in 2008 as the centrepiece of Brighton and Hove’s successful bid to become a Cycle Demonstration Town, with £3million of government funding provided by Cycling England in the glory days of 2005. It is part of the infrastructure that won the Transport Authority of the Year award only last year, when the council was commended for cycling improvements that saw cycling in the city increase by 27% since 2006.

The route connects with the newly created South Downs national park with Hove’s seafront. It runs for around 4km, southwards from Downs access point at Dyke Railway Trail, to the sea via Hove station. The segregated cycle freeway section runs for a little under two kilometres along Grand Avenue and The Drive, this last section a wide double lane carriage way lined by classic Palladian-style mansion blocks until finally opening out onto Hove Lawns beneath a statue of Queen Victoria. With its rail connection and access to the Downs, the route forms part of strategic plans to improve access to the Downs and seafront as well as promoting cycling in the city.

The Tory administration wants the southern, freeway style section demolished – at the cost of £1.1m, according to budget proposals released 11 February.

There has been a chorus of protest from across the country, and fury from the sustainable transport community. The fury has been building for some time. Since Conservatives gained control of the council in 2007 they have cancelled successive components of the city’s plans for transport improvements, most notably the Old Shoreham Road scheme which was to have provided an east-west segregated cycle freeway linking the centres of Brighton, Hove and Portslade, and Marine Parade which was to have filled in the “missing link” in the national cycle route along the seafront. (click for more...)

Save Hove Cycle Lane: a father shares his daughter’s anger and broken dreams

Cyclists gather before joining the protest

A father shares his daughter’s anger and broken dreams as an “Anti-Cycling” minority Tory administration threatens to destroy another key element of his plan for a “Cycling City”

20 Feb 2011. Russell Honeyman interviewed the man who laid the plans for Brighton and Hove’s award winning Cycling Demonstration Town scheme – and is watching them being destroyed by a minority Tory controlled council.

Stuart Croucher is a quietly spoken professional who seemed cheerful enough in his cycling helmet and high visibility waterproofs. Only toward the end of our interview did he reveal his anger about the impact that plans to close Hove’s cycle freeway (a European-style segregated cycle lane) might have on his family life. He talked about his experiences with his seven-year-old daughter, Josie. He said: “When we told her the cycle lane was to be closed she was really upset that she won’t be able to cycle to the seaside anymore.”

I met Mr Croucher at Saturday’s (19 February 2011) protest against plans to scrap the cycle freeway along The Drive in Hove. He was Transport Planning Manager for Brighton and Hove in 2005 when the city won grant funding from Cycling England as a Cycling Demonstration Town. Cycle freeways were a central element of the scheme. Last year the city won the Transport Authority of the Year award with commendation for improvements to cycle infrastructure in the city.

But a Tory administration gained control of the city in 2007 and has cancelled key parts of the scheme and now plans the latest closure.

Mr Croucher now works as an Urban Designer for Crossrail, designing spaces around London’s new rail link.

I asked how he felt about the destruction of his plans for transforming Brighton and Hove into a cycling city. “I don’t see them as my plans, they were drawn up by a team,” Mr Croucher said. “I understand the arguments in a professional way.”

He hesitated a moment. “But as a citizen of Brighton and Hove I feel deeply angry. It feels as if progress, not just in transport, but also in many other ways, is coming to a halt. Now it’s going into reverse. Seeing the council planning to spend £1.1 million on destroying this cycle freeway when they are cutting essential services across the city makes me really cross.” (more...)

Original Plans for Hove's "The Drive" Cycle Freeway

People have been asking for details of the cycle lane that's causing all the fuss. I downloaded original plan from the council website in case it disappears.

It is clear to see the strategic thinking behind the cycle freeway. At the top, the South Downs, now a new national park. At the bottom, the popular Brighton and Hove Sea front. In the middle: Hove Station, a pretty station with access to mainline train services and with capacity for more traffic.

You can see the connection with the National Cycle Network N2 seafront cycle lane. It has obvious strategic importance for tourism and local leisure travel.

What you can't see is the other major component of this cycle freeway network: The Old Shoreham Road (OSR), which was to have connected the town centres of Portslade, Have and Brighton, allowing 7,000 school children to cycle safely to school. The Tories watered down the "segregated Cycle Freeways" on the OSR scheme - reduced them to painted lines on the road. And then announced the scheme was unsafe and cancelled it!

It is worth noting the Tory admin is not saying they will eliminate the cycle lane. Just remove the 'segregated cycle freeway' bit of it.

This is what the Council Website says about the cycle lane network today:

Cycling



Cycling in Brighton & Hove has grown substantially over recent years. (27% increase recorded in the 2006-2008 period.)

But a large proportion of city workers using a car to get to work drive less than three miles. So there is great potential for increasing safe cycling - and to bring other individual and wider-level benefits.
What the council is doing

As a Cycling Town, the city council is dedicated to promoting healthy and environmentally friendly travel.

There are many cycle lanes across the city, including along the seafront, Grand Avenue and The Drive, Hove to Hangleton, and Lewes Road. Many are part of the national and regional cycle route network.

A north south cycle freeway has been completed and provides a link between the Downs, from the Dyke Railway Trail in Hangleton to the seafront via Hove station. The southern section along Grand Avenue and The Drive (pictured above, far right) is a segregated, motor-vehicle free, European-style cycle freeway. Additional cycle parking places are also being installed city-wide.

Brighton & Hove's popular suite of cycle maps was updated in 2010. A further update will be available early 2011.

The maps include details of local bike businesses, bike hire, training and maintenance providers, cycle interest groups and clubs, information on cycle safety, and much more.

Opinion: Why bother ripping out a cycle lane in residential Hove?

Brighton & Hove's budget proposals link below

20 Feb 2011. People are puzzled over this story and asked for more info about the plans to rip out the Hove cycle lane. The plans are found in the (minority Conservative controlled) council budget proposals made public on 11 Feb - clause 3.11. They still need to be approved in full council on March 3. (Link to the budget PR below)

It's a bit disheartening because the budget boasts mainly of saving £82 million over five years to fund a 1% reduction in council tax. Opposition councillors warning that cuts are causing the loss of jobs in "front-line services" and will pose critical problems for the city. Meantime the budget proposes spending £1.1m on ripping out cycle lanes and £4.5m doing up car parks!

Much of the cycle lane is in Tory heartland but the Greens are pushing hard and Goldsmid was taken by the Greens at the 2009 by election. Maybe this cycle-lane-crushing move is to shore up the core Tory vote by acting tough on cyclists. (My personal opinion, I hasten to add, but car parking is identified as a core concern in B & H).

Yellow Bear in her post mentioned 'safety issues' about drivers turning off The Drive into their driveways. Drivers have to cross the cycle path to get to their houses. A steady stream of cyclists might make it hard to turn into your driveway. Also, cars parked on the kerb might obscure the cycle lane which is set into the kerb. It's partly about old habits - cars have to check to see if cyclists are coming from a place they hadn't before - and partly it's badly planned.

A layman's speculation into how to remedy the situation follows. Allocate a parking place on the kerbside alongside each driveway, for drivers to pull into and observe the cycle lane, before they cross the cycle lane. Another solution that comes to mind would be to make the centre of The Drive into a segregated cycle freeway. That would have been really revolutionary. OK, cyclists would have to join it at junctions using the cycle stop lanes. But if it was wide and car free all the way from the South Downs to the Coast - what a pleasure.

(IMO) The Tory administration is pro-car or maybe simply anti-change, and cycle and other sustainable transport plans (Valley Gardens Project) over the recent years have been so half-hearted they have partly failed or been cancelled: Old Shoreham Road, Madeira Drive, Marine Parade and now the Drive. This amounts to a serious reversal of the schemes that got the "Cycling City Status" and the "Transport Authority of the Year Award" last year.

Link to Council Budget PR with link to PDF of the budget proposals

Text of clause 3.11

This year’s transport funding is entirely from capital grant providing the council with real additional cash to spend on capital. A grant topslice of £1.503m is proposed in order to maintain corporate funds at planned levels. Without investment in these corporate funds there is a risk that the council will create additional revenue pressures, (for example through backlogs in maintenance programmes), or fail to deliver planned savings (for example through better use of technology to drive efficiency savings). In order to improve the visual impact and traffic flow along this important north – south corridor including access to the A27 / A23 from the A259 /210 Shoreham Harbour it is proposed to remove the cycle lane along both sides of Grand Avenue and The Drive. An indicative cost of removing the lanes including changes to the signalling is £1.1m to be funded by a further topslice from LTP grant. Detailed costings have yet to be undertaken and any residual funds would be given back to the LTP. There is a low risk that up to £0.3m grant funding may need to be repaid.

This story originally posted in response to enquiry about where to find the plans on Yellow Bear's Flickr video: link here
http://russellhoneyman.blogspot.com/2011/02/cute-video-about-save-hove-cycle-lanes.html

Lovely little video about the "Save Hove Cycle Lanes" campaign

A woman with the most miniature camcorder made a compact (one and a half minutes) and succinct video about the campaign and released it on You Tube before I even managed to finish writing my blog. Way to go!
Click