Worthing Cycle Campaign > Newsletter > February 2000

What !! - No money for cycling?

The current draft plan for spending by West Sussex County Council on Highways Works has around one percent allocated for half a cycle route, and even that money is not guaranteed. No money has been allocated for cycling at all in the 2001/2002 financial year. In comparison, footway repairs are to receive thirty-six percent of the 2 million budget over the next two years.

The Worthing to Goring cycle route, which was supposed to have been completed last March, has £25,000 assigned to complete the first phase. This consists of lanes along the roads, but no treatment at any junctions (the second phase, to improve cyclist safety at junctions on the route, has no funding yet allocated). Compare this amount of money with the £170,000 the county is spending on variable-message signs to inform motorists where car parking spaces are available, and £313,000 to be spent resurfacing the pavements along just ten streets in Worthing.

What can you do?

Please write to your MP, or the Area Highway Engineer, West Sussex County Council, Southern Area Office, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex, BN13 3UR. Please ask them why cycle facilities are not being given the priority they deserve, and mention the Worthing Cycle Campaign. The budget is to be approved on 11th February, so please write very soon!

Tell your friends about this, and get them to write too. Things will only change if the politicians think that enough people want cycle facilities, and politicians and council officers have to take letters seriously. Ask friends to join the Worthing Cycle Campaign, and perhaps even send a book of stamps (address on the back of this newsletter).

New parking stands!

In comparison with the County Council's apparent lack of interest in cycling, Worthing Borough Council is trying hard to spend its limited budgets on cycle facilities. More cycle parking stands should appear in the next two months in Worthing town centre and a few other local shopping areas in the Borough.

Cycle Network report approved

The County Council has approved the report (produced at great cost!) to look at providing a cycle network in Worthing. The report was worked on by the national charity Sustrans, and so contains a great deal of good stuff for cycling. There are lots of good ideas, but we need to sort out which we would like to see done first as the report has sixty-four pages and a large number of maps. Current cycling conditions in Worthing

According to the Sustrans/Babtie report:

• Although Worthing is compact and flat with a good climate, road conditions for cyclists are very poor.
• There are no cycle lanes worth using, but there are some cycle parking stands.
• The 1991 Census indicated that cycling represented about 7% of journeys to work in Worthing, about twice the national average.
• There are significant cyclist flows on main roads, which provide the most direct and convenient routes.
• A rough estimate from a traffic survey found that 392 cyclists use South Farm Road and 222 cyclists use Brighton Road each day on average.
• Cyclists seem to be involved in about 25% of all traffic accidents in Worthing, three times the national average.
• Over half of all reported accidents involving cyclists were at junctions, mostly at busy roundabouts.

Cycling Report Conclusions

• Worthing offers considerable potential for the development of cycling as a mode of transport.
• A network of cycling routes is required to improve safety and encourage cycling.
• Cycle routes should follow existing main roads as these provide the most direct and convenient routes.
• Because it will take time to implement the whole network, cycling should be considered whenever changes to the road network are made.
• Some schemes should have highest priority:
  • Safe cycle crossings of the A2032 Littlehampton Road at the two large roundabouts in Durrington.
  • Cycle crossing at Rectory Road/St. Lawrence Avenue in Tarring.
  • Safety improvements at the Strand/Shaftesbury Avenue roundabout (over the bridge from the sports centre).
  • Cycle crossings of the A27 where cycle routes cross it.
  • A route across Worthing town centre.
  • Contraflow cycle lanes in the roads around Upper High Street.
  • Extensions of the Worthing to Goring cycle route to Goring Station and Ferring and to the town centre.
  • A route to Goring Station from the north.
  • A link past the Inland Revenue to link Barrington Road together.
  • A crossing by the sports centre, and a path across West Park recreation ground south east of the sports centre.
  • Cycle crossings at South Street Tarring and South Farm Road.
  • Conversion of the subway under Broadwater Road from Bridge Road to King Edward Avenue.
  • A route to link Findon Valley to Worthing.
  • The South Coast Cycle route along the seafront.

Internet Web Site

The WCC web site is slowly growing, with more information, advice, and newspaper cuttings. If you have Internet access, you can visit it at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/AJCartmell/WCC. As usual, all comments are welcome!

Cycling Facility Requests and Progress

Comments on these ideas are very welcome, as are any other ideas for facilities.

• Cycle parking stands could be provided at the southern end of South Street, both in a visible location outside the Pavilion Theatre, and near the junction of Montague Street and South Street. A large blank wall in Bath Place could provide space for a large number of cycle stands.
  We should see some action on this soon!

• A short cycle track past the north doors to C&A (between Liverpool Road and Shelley Road) would provide a means to cycle westwards from the town centre without having to use the busy coast road or Richmond Road.
• A dropped curb in Carnegie Road would provide a most useful link for cyclists along this traffic-free road.
• A short contra-flow cycle lane outside Barclays Bank to link Shelley Road to Chapel Road would provide a much-needed link for cyclists to cross town.
• A gap to allow cyclists to turn right from Chatsworth Road into the High Street would provide a useful link from West Worthing (Shelley Road) to East Worthing (Brighton Road).
• A contra-flow cycle lane in Broadwater Street East would allow cyclists to avoid the busy light-controlled crossing at Broadwater Road/Sompting Avenue. This used to be a popular cycle route until the current traffic system was implemented here.
• Permitting cycling along pedestrianised shopping streets before and after shopping hours (say before 9am and after 6pm) would allow cyclists to travel in safety. The increased presence of people in these streets would also discourage vandalism.

Web site maintained by Anthony Cartmell.