Safer school travel for thousands of students
Cycle lanes are to be installed along one of Brighton’s busiest roads to give increasing numbers of school children and students safer travel to their studies.
Members of the Brighton & Hove City Council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee have given the go ahead for the improvements for the Dyke Road area between BHASVIC and The Upper Drive/Highcroft Villas.
This follows a public consultation where 65% responding said they were in favour of better cycling facilities and cycle lanes in the area.
Safety for students travelling to and from school was paramount when drawing up the scheme, which should result in an easier and improved experience for all road users in the area.
BHASVIC and Windelsham School are both situated along Dyke Road, which is also crossed by students attending Stanford Infants and Junior Schools, Cardinal Newman Secondary and Cottesmore St Mary’s Primary School.
Safe, segregated cycle lanes will encourage students to travel independently and sustainably.
The plans include:
• Putting in dedicated cycle lanes
• Simplifying pedestrian crossings
• Installing a raised crossing at the junction of Port Hall Road
• Re-aligning the public highway where needed and removing unnecessary
street clutter
• Improving the bus stop areas
• Extending and removing parking facilities where necessary
An informal consultation showed that 65% of those who responded were in favour of the overall proposals while 64% said they supported the introduction of cycle lanes. The consultation covered more than 1.500 homes in the area and included five staffed public exhibitions.
The new scheme will complement improvements made to Old Shoreham Road and Seven Dials and the introduction of 20mph limits in nearby residential streets.
Councillor Pete West, Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee said:
“I am very pleased with the strong and positive response to this consultation. Our aim is to create an environment where people, feel comfortable and safe walking, cycling and taking the bus. These improvements will particularly support active and independent travel by students attending local schools and colleges. Ultimately this will lead to less traffic, which will benefit all road users.
“The creation of a safer environment should also attract more people to the area to enjoy the facilities at Dyke Road Park.”
The improvements, costing around £150,000 will be funded from the Local Transport Plan capital programme.