How temporary is Old Shoreham Road’s ‘Temporary’ Cycle Lane?

It’s the question being asked of Councillors by thousands of petitioners and residents across the City and last week’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee (ETS) provided some answers.

After a seven hour long meeting, the answer to that question in a nut shell was ‘not very’ it would seem, with the prospect of it becoming a permanent feature rising.

At ETS the cycle lane’s continued existence was supported by the Green and Labour coalition.

Greens’ statistics put under scrutiny

The Green Administration were exposed of promoting wholly inaccurate data. In August they said that since the temporary cycle lane was introduced, cycling had gone up by 61% (Brighton & Hove Green Councillors’ Facebook post dated 30th August 2020).

Committee papers advised that cycle journey numbers had risen 61% since 2016 and officers confirmed in response to questions that they had no idea how the numbers had changed between the period before the cycle lane was introduced and since it had been installed. The reality is that there is no data to show how the cycle lane’s usage has changed in recent times.

The council also offered no information in their report as to how the cycle lane had impacted car use except it has gone down but no explanation as to why such as travel habit change or vehicle displacement to other streets nor information on journey times, pollution or air quality levels or impacts on the economy.

The one bit of data the council did provide was the results of its own survey on the issue.  The survey confirmed that from 3,433 responses that 64% said they did not support the cycle lane. It has subsequently been learnt that there will be no further consultation on the cycle lane in place, presumably because the Green Administration didn’t like the response they received from the survey and wouldn’t want to ignore public opinion a second time if proper consultation yields the same response.

Labour’s position is now crystal clear

While the Greens’ fervent support for the temporary cycle lane at the expense of all evidence has been clear all along, a big question mark so far has been over the position of Labour.

After August’s Council meeting many residents were left confused by Labour’s position.  Before the meeting, some Labour Councillors had expressed sympathy towards residents and petitioners that wanted the temporary cycle lane removed. This sympathy was expressed in person, via emails and through public opinion articles.

But when it came to the crunch at the Council meeting in August, when given the chance to have the Old Shoreham Road Cycle lane removed at the earliest opportunity, every single Labour Councillor voted at that meeting to keep the Old Shoreham Road Temporary Cycle Lane in place, contradicting the wish of the petitioners.  One Labour Councillor gave the excuse that the timing wasn’t quite right for them – it was too early to make a decision.

If the timing wasn’t right in August, surely 2 months later that wouldn’t be an issue?

However at last week’s ETS, despite some Labour councillors publicly denouncing the cycle lane and even saying the council should give money back to Central Government; the Labour Group voted down our amendment to remove the cycle lane.

It seems therefore, that Labour are preparing to support the extension of the cycle lane through Portslade to Southwick. 

Labour’s position after 2 votes in 2 months is now crystal clear.

A trojan horse

The cycle lane on Old Shoreham Road did not require a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the changes to be made. TROs are subject to time limits and conditions that restrict how long changes can stay in place unless Committee agrees to extend or make the change permanent. Therefore, in theory, the cycle lane on Old Shoreham Road can remain indefinitely.

It is right that we all support active travel and better infrastructure for cycling and walking and to the extent possible, provide the means for people to travel, especially with short journeys, without using their cars. However, schemes have to work for everybody and in transport terms, need to create overall improvement.

Old Shoreham Road’s cycle lane is an example of the right idea in the wrong place. Failure of the council and the Green and Labour coalition to recognise it is only making things worse for far more people than it benefits is a huge mistake. This dogmatic approach is only serving to turn many people against the positives of having better active travel solutions precisely at the time when the council needs to gain as much support as possible.

As things stand, it seems you don’t have to look much further than Old Shoreham Road to see what a Green and Labour coalition Trojan horse slipped in under the guise of Covid looks like.

Councillor Lee Wares is the Conservative Group’s Spokesperson on Environment, Transport and Sustainability at Brighton & Hove City Council.