‘End Chichester’s cycle lane madness now’ – comment

The editor of the Chichester Observer series, Gary Shipton, says in this comment piece that the new temporary cycle lane scheme in Chichester should be reversed:

It has been heartening to read the supportive comments from some cyclists to the county council’s Covid cycling scheme.

As someone who wholeheartedly believes we should develop greener and more sustainable transport options after the coronavirus lockdown I personally welcome as much innovative thinking in this area by our elected leaders as possible.

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But the harsh truth is the current scheme is a bodged piece of nonsense which while benefiting a few – very few – cyclists has added to the city’s traffic nightmare.

It needs to be reversed immediately.

Everyone in Chichester is fighting to support our shops, city centre and business community. We all depend on a vibrant local economy.

Stripping out key road lanes at a time like this will do nothing to help that mission.

If the cycle lanes were full of bike riders the story might be different. But they are not.

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I am regularly in Chichester – often walking – and have yet to see a single cyclist making use of any of these lanes.

Instead, the traffic continues to pile up and it is easy to sense the drivers’ frustration.

The situation is just as bad in Worthing where this ludicrously ill-thought out scheme is also being inflicted.

Worthing’s Town Centre Initiative, which represents many businesses, has written to the county council warning of the economic impact of the new lane.

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Town centre manager Sharon Clarke said the group’s research showed around 50 per cent of visitors arrived by car, but only four per cent by bike in summer.

If drivers cannot access the town, she said, they would simply go elsewhere.

“This is a knee-jerk reaction that just hasn’t been thought out – they are not looking at the big picture,” she added.

“We totally support people coming into town by sustainable means but they have to think of the economic impact.

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“When you have got a town trying to recover after a pandemic, the last thing we want to do is make it more difficult for people to come into town.”

Her words could just as easily apply here.

The Observer and its sister titles will be launching ‘The Big Conversation’ on September 11 – this will be a survey on our websites and in our newspapers across the county asking readers for their vision for the future.

We know green and sustainable ideas will be a part of that debate – and we wholeheartedly welcome it.

Let solutions emerge that work for everyone and the environment – but they will need to be carefully planned, costed and communicated.

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They will require serious investment for which we will be pleased to lobby government.

But simply reducing the road space available to the current car drivers is no solution at all.

Common-sense from our elected leaders is needed more than ever – and that should start by restoring the status quo until proper measures can be agreed with the community and put in place.

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