Work on the Hove to Portslade seafront cycle lane is about to begin

Building work on a two-way cycle lane along the A259 between Hove and Portslade is due to start in the coming weeks, Brighton & Hove City Council^1,2,3 has said.

The A259 Hove to Portslade Active Travel Scheme covers the seafront road from Fourth Avenue to the city’s western boundary. As well as a separated two-way cycle lane, it brings new pavements and bus stops, safer and better aligned crossings and junctions, and new loading bays and disabled parking bays.

Work starts with the section between Fourth Avenue and Hove Street. A work compound is going on the south side of the A259, opposite Westbourne Villas. The national roadworks map lists the compound from 28 September until 15 May, Brighton and Hove News⁴ reported, and the project is expected to take 18 months.

The council says access to homes and businesses will be kept open throughout, and contractors will get in touch with occupants and owners before working directly outside their property. The contractor, Edburton, will send information to properties before work starts in each section.

Trevor Muten, the council’s cabinet member for transport and city infrastructure, said: “Design matters. We carefully considered the space to develop a design that is accessible and keeps our city moving.”

The next stretch is out for consultation

The council is also consulting on extending the scheme east from Fourth Avenue to West Street in Brighton. There, the plans would remove the two cycle lanes in use now: a westbound lane separated from traffic by plastic wands, and an eastbound lane that runs next to the pavement. In their place would be one two-way lane, kept apart from both traffic and pedestrians.

The route passes Hove Lawns, the Bandstand, Shelter Hall, the i360 and the Brighton Centre. The plans also include new pavements, better crossings and junctions, loading and disabled parking bays, and some additional parking spaces.

The consultation is split into two sections: phase 3, from Fourth Avenue to the Peace Statue, and phase 4, from the Peace Statue to West Street. People can comment on either section, both, or the scheme as a whole, and the feedback will shape the final design.

The council has £780,000 from Active Travel England for this route, and the Department for Transport has allocated nearly £4m over four years.

“The current layout of the cycle lanes is confusing and we can do much better,” Muten said.

The six-week consultation, with plans and consultation materials, is on the council’s consultation platform. For newsletters on the Hove to Portslade works, email transport.projects@brighton-hove.gov.uk with “A259 Hove to Portslade” in the subject line.