The new segregated cycle lanes in Grand Avenue and The Drive have certainly caused quite a stir in the pages of The Argus (Letters, May 3).

Comments include that they are dangerous, unnecessary, unsightly, have ruined a previously lovely road and will bring economic ruin on the city. And the contractors haven't even finished building them yet.

In sharp contrast to these criticisms, the report by Cycling England (The Argus, May 6) highlights just why we need highquality cycle infrastructure such as this: parents are too frightened to allow their children to cycle because of their fear of traffic.

As a consequence these "cul de sac" kids are denied the freedom of independent travel while they are driven from here to there, from home to school and back again by anxious parents. All of these extra journeys compound the problems of inactivity, ill health, congestion, road traffic danger and chronic air quality that blight this city.

If we are serious about addressing these problems and meeting the national and local aspiration of getting "more people cycling more safely, more often" we need to provide more high-quality cycle infrastructure such as this. Only by doing so will we be able to encourage those who are understandably frightened of cycling on the city's congested streets to give it a try and crucially to allow their children to do so.

I have been a pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist and driver since 1950 - all over Europe and in North America. I have only ever been run over twice, both times by cyclists and both times in Brighton in recent years.

The worse incident was at the bottom of Trafalgar Street. The cyclist was flat out coming down against the one-way system and broke my shoulder. On June 15 I will be setting out on my 14th London to Brighton ride along with my son on his seventh.

My advice to Marc Taylor (Letters, May 5) is to read and learn the Highway Code and stick to safe speeds which all road users - including cyclists - are required to observe.

  • Eamonn Campbell, St Martin's Place, Brighton

What a shame we did not have a local election earlier this month in Brighton and Hove. We could have got rid of the councillors who have turned that most elegant of thoroughfares - Grand Avenue - into a cycle track, an untidy builders' yard and an extended car park.

  • Raymond Yates, Arundel Road, Brighton