Brighton & Hove City Council has secured £1.5m from the UK Department for Transport’s Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund for its Western Road repair and improvement scheme.
The scheme involves resurfacing large areas of Western Road that have been badly damaged by bus movements, the removal of islands that will be replaced with improvements to crossing points for pedestrians and the creation of a cycle route.
According to the city council, the funding will support the work to make it easier to travel into the city centre by public transport as well as making it safer for pedestrians, in line with making Brighton city centre more accessible for residents and visitors.
Improvements to Western Road should mean that one of Brighton’s public transport arteries will run more smoothly for those walking, cycling and using public transport to get into the city centre, making it easier to use public transport when moving around the city.
The road is also part of the city’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone.
The city council said that providing the best surface possible will also cause less damage to buses and bikes as they head in and out of the city centre, complementing new zero-emission technology equipped buses to provide a quieter environment.
Upgrading the crossing links will also make the commute into the city centre better for those that walk and those that get the bus, as the transition between the two will be easier and hopefully go towards encouraging even more sustainable travel around Brighton & Hove.
Councillor Anne Pissaridou, Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee said: [TBC] “The announcement of £1.5m funding for this programme is very welcome and will enable us to make repairs and improvements to Western Road for all residents, but most specifically pedestrians, cyclists and bus passengers.
“It is well known that we are working towards Brighton & Hove being carbon neutral by 2030 and adapting and improving our main roads in and out of the city centre to transform the clean public transport links is an important milestone to reaching this goal.”
Read more from CiTTi
https://www.cittimagazine.co.uk/liverpool-and-hull-to-pilot-smart-crossings-to-reduce-pedestrian-accidents/
