Cyclists in Bognor Regis asked to stick to cycle paths

Cllr David Edwards said those on two wheels should stick to cycle paths where they had the choice.

“We spend money providing these cycle paths which get ignored by cyclists. They continue to cycle on the road with or without lights and usually without because they can’t be bothered to buy them.

“I get so fed up with them. Chichester Road is the worst place,” he said.

Cllr Edwards, who is a member of Felpham and Bognor councils, said he only spotted one cyclist while he was driving on a recent journey in the wet and dark from a metre away.

“If somebody does knock somebody off and kills them, they will have to live with that,” he said, “whether it’s their fault or not.

“It probably will not be their fault because the cyclist will have been on the road.”

Felpham county councillor George Blampied said he had been told cyclists shunned cycle paths because their surfaces were ‘lumpy and bumpy’.

Their comments came at last week’s meeting of the Joint Western Arun Area Committee of parish, town and county councils.

Its county councillors agreed a highways and transport improvement wish list around Bognor.

These are:

Town centre – High Street improvement scheme and 20mph speed limit or zone;

Real time passenger information displays to encourage the use of public transport;

Safer routes to schools projects at Rose Green Infant and Junior schools and Nyewood Infant and Junior schools;

Pedestrian crossing on Hawthorn Road, close to Amberley Drive; and

B2166 Pagham Road - consideration of cycle lanes and lower speed limits.

The schemes will be the subject of feasibility studies. If the outcome is positive, work could start on them in the 2013/14 financial year.

Cllr Ed Blackburn, of Pagham Parish Council, said: “The B2166 from North Mundham to Pagham is probably one of the most dangerous roads in West Sussex.”