Cycle Lane Removal

Info from from Duncan at Bike Train/Lewes Road for Clean Air....

Brighton & Hove City Council are planning on spending £1.1 million to remove the Grand Av/The Drive cycle lanes. After being given £800K to put them in...

Anyway, there's a protest/meeting tomorrow (sat) at 12 noon at the junction of The Drive and Cromwell Road. Don't forget to bring your bike.

As one of the more militant (and strictly law abiding, red lights and all) cyclists in Brighton, I'm pretty fiercely opposed to the idea if cycle lanes being removed, free or tax payers cost. However if I had to pick two cycle lanes to be removed, these would be the ones. I've stopped using them anyway due to the frankly dangerous design, near misses I've had with drivers turning in or out of drives, a terrible surface water gathering issue, and intermittent bin bags just being in it all the time. I live on 4th avenue and use these roads a lot, but am I the only person who's noticed this?

^This. I've used these on a few occasions and being a fairly alert rider they still scare me. People emerging from off street parking and garages. Lorries darting in to make deliveries, peds and the rubbish. In my opinion this particular lane could prove more dangerous to those that this cycle lane has been designed for than simply riding in the road. A good example of this is that there are a line of parked cars between the cyclists and the moving traffic making it very very hard to see when motorists are turning into junctions causing them to cross the lanes.

Having said that to start making these regressive decisions is not good for cycling in the city. In stead of removing them the money should be spent on making them safer and making drivers more aware of the presence so I would be in favour of not having these removed (even though I wont use them).

I'm not sure if Caroline Lucas has any influence on this area of Hove but having a Green MP removing cycling facilities seems short sighted to me unless there is a more cohesive plan

The campaign against removal is coming from the local Greens and Caroline Lucas is on the case.

Just to clarify most people acknowledge that these are pretty badly thought out, even dangerous cycle lanes. But for a fraction of the £1.1 million cost of removal, they could be made safe and more effective. That seems a better use of money to me?

Here's a petition that people can sign: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43064.html

how does it cost 1.1 million to remove cycle lanes, surely a warning sign saying watch out for cars in driveways is cheaper

And some signs saying 'watch out for cyclists in the cycle lane. This is where they are expected to be but you probably don't even know its there'

what are they using to paint it over it with? printer ink?

The campaign against removal is coming from the local Greens and Caroline Lucas is on the case.

Just to clarify most people acknowledge that these are pretty badly thought out, even dangerous cycle lanes. But for a fraction of the £1.1 million cost of removal, they could be made safe and more effective. That seems a better use of money to me?

Here's a petition that people can sign: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43064.html

Signed!

Signed, seems like a ridiculous waste of public money especially when they are meant to be saving money.

Signed.

Signed. The Lib-Con govt is cutting public funding and then the local govt want to use so much money to remove cycle lanes! Ridiculous.

signed. sounds like a case of budget fulfillment to me, why not build more?

Though I'm London based, my sister lives on The Drive and I've often wondered what those cycle lanes are like to use; the line of parked cars looks like it makes it difficult for road users to see each other, particularly with all the driveways crossing it. That said, I've signed the petition as it does seem like a huge waste of money to remove them at a time when there are so many cuts to funding.