Lewes Road transport scheme wins another award for Brighton and Hove. But what about Valley Gardens?

Good to see that the Lewes Road scheme keeps collecting awards, the latest being the Excellence in Cycling and Walking category at the National Transport Awards. The Lewes Road scheme, which links Brighton city centre with destinations along Lewes Road, has provided better connectivity for cyclists and walkers, and also provides improvements to speed buses along the way. The £6.4 million project saw nearly three miles of dual carriageway changed into a single carriageway with a new bus lane, widened cycle lane, and revamped bus stops and traffic signals. All of which makes it much easier to travel between the centre of Brighton, the universities, the American Express Community Stadium and Stanmer Park, as well as residential areas.

  

What is amazing is the amount of fuss caused by such schemes when they are being planned and installed. Travelling (by bus) along the Lewes Road in the peaks last week, I’d observe that everything seems to be working pretty smoothly. It is hard to believe the brouhaha about the Lewes Road  scheme, which some seemed to think presaged the end of the world as we know it. But, as the endowment effect,inertia bias and the status quo bias from behavioural economics show, people hate to have things taken away from them – even when what replaces it is better.

Before: Lewes Road at the Vogue Gyratory - note cyclists

The Lewes Road scheme is one of a number of sustainable transport improvements around Brighton and Hove, which have included investing in better bus services, installing cycle contraflows and 20mph zones, as well as upgrading public spaces. These schemes, designed to change people’s transport behaviour by making it easier to take low-carbon options, have featured in a recent approving blog post by a staffer at the ClimateChange Committee. The post notes that, against a worrying national trend towards increasing carbon emissions from transport, developments in our city like the Lewes Road scheme and others,  

“make walking, cycling and taking the bus a much more attractive option. Car ownership in Brighton is currently the lowest in South East England, cycling to work doubled between 2001 and 2011, as did the number of bus journeys between 1993 and 2013.”

With the change in administration that took place in May 2015, and the switch to a Labour-controlled council, another long awaited scheme, for Valley Gardens, has been put on hold pending further work on traffic modelling. Let’s hope that this doesn’t mean that the long overdue improvements to the City’s main gateway, from St. Peter’s Church to the Palace Pier, has been kicked into the long grass, never to be seen again. Because if it has, it’s the worst possible news for pedestrians and cyclists, and anyone one else who believes that Valley Gardens deserves a better fate than being a congested and fume-laded traffic corridor, a river of vehicles which currently divides our city.

20mph - saving lives and reducing traffic injuries in Brighton and Hove

Great to read that our council is going to extend the 20mph speed limit to most of the city, especially given that the existing 20mph speed limits seem to be having an impact on road crash deaths and casualties.

Also great to see Lead Councillor for Transport Ian Davey’s comment in The Argus, “Maybe the time is coming to change the default speed limit in urban areas to 20mph from 30mph.” Sounds like the sort of thing that a behavioural economist would say. So Amen to that!

Look out Brighton & Hove: LTP4 is on the way

Brighton and Hove is required to prepare an LTP, aka, a Local Transport Plan based on a statutory requirement in the 2000 and 2008 Transport Acts. The LTP will set out the objectives, strategies and measures proposed to maintain and improve travel within and around Brighton & Hove for the next 15 years, with the Plan submitted to government in Spring 2015.



Travel and transport is crucial for Brighton & Hove, as for most cities, and the preparation of a new LTP enables forward planning based on transport measures and initiatives that will help ensure that the city of Brighton & Hove remains a place that can continue to grow its economy and meet the many different expectations of people and communities.


The LTP has to be owned by the council as a whole, not just one party, and the plan will be implemented over the lifetime of the next council, not the current one. The plan is created with the Transport Partnership and stakeholders in the city.



These graphics, which show how we get around the city, come from the Brighton and Hove City Council briefing document on LTP4.

Brighton & Hove Blues and Reds unite: it’s a parking giveaway for Christmas motorists in a triumph for ‘policy based evidence’

Yesterday’s meeting at Hove Town Hall, of the Brighton and Hove City Council Policy and Resources Urgency Sub-Committee (are you still with me?), passed a motion submitted by the city's combined Labour and Conservative opposition designed to provide free parking at selected council car parks on Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas. The meeting started with a series of procedural wrangles about an amendment snuck in to make the deal permanent in the London road car park. This amendment was itself parked, due to a lack of evidence about the potential financial impact.

Oh yes, evidence....the 'evidence' provided by Cllr. Norman for the Blue team and Cllr. Morgan, leader of Brighton’s Red team, consisted, in both cases, of the following: a Google list of towns which offer free parking in the run up to Christmas. Towns like Plymouth, Lancaster and Morecombe. Towns which would kill to have Brighton's 'problem' of over 8 million visitors a year.

Opposing the motion, Jason Kitcat, leader of the Green administration, reeled off a series of facts to counter the assertions from the Red and Blue side. But, as a Minority administration faced with populism masquerading as policy, it didn't matter. As Cllr. Kitcat commented, it was a triumph for ‘policy based evidence.’

And it's business as usual in today's Argus with its front page ''Christmas gift for shoppers.' But no presents for you if you arrive by bike, on foot or on a bus. Merry Christmas!

Brighton and Hove: Transport Update

As a member of Brighton and Hove Transport Partnership, I’ve received an update on various schemes and proposals previously covered on this blog. It’s a list which captures decisions taken at the Council’s Transport Committee on 15^th January 2013. It’s quite long, which shows that there’s a lot going on. More details, with full reports, on the Brighton and Hove City Council website.
Seven Dials
Begin construction on the scheme and seek to resolve the concerns regarding blind and partially-sighted pedestrians and using zebra crossings. The effects of the scheme will also be monitored in terms of its impact on neighbouring streets.
20mph
Proceed with the Traffic Regulation Orders comprising Phase 1 of the scheme in the central area of the city and closely monitor the impact of the scheme in terms of the objections that have been received.
Brighton Station
Proceed to detailed design phase and seek a resolution to the concerns expressed regarding the location of the taxi rank proposed to be located in Frederick Place.
Old Town area
Traffic Regulation Orders will be considered at an independent public inquiry to resolve objections regarding restrictions to loading times.
Citywide Parking Review
Re-consultation will be undertaken on existing ‘light touch’ areas W and Hove Park for full resident parking schemes and to proceed with phased consultation on new schemes.  Pilot schemes for verge and footway parking bans will be undertaken in parts of Withdean/Patcham and Mile Oak wards.
AmEx Community Stadium Parking Proposals
The schemes will be progressed to final design stage and the advertisement of Traffic Regulation Orders for the originally proposed area boundaries for Moulsecoomb and Coldean.
London Road Station Area Parking Consultation
The extension of the Area J Residents Parking Scheme into the London Road Station north area and the Round Hill area will be progressed to the final design stage and the Traffic Regulation Order advertised.
Parking Fees & Charges
Changes will be made to parking tariffs in a number of locations across the city and the tariff structure will be simplified.
Highway Fees & Charges
Changes will be made to some Highways Maintenance tariffs, including some being raised by inflation or to the nearest pound.  Some tariffs will not be raised at all.
Pay by Phone Parking
The Strategic Director, Place has been granted delegated authority to enter into contracting arrangements defined in the ‘Mobile Telephone Parking Payment Solution with Cash Option’ Framework Agreement, with the London Borough of Lambeth as Lead Authority, to supplement the existing Pay and Display system throughout the city.