READERS overwhelmingly think the city’s new road layouts are a bad development.

There were more than 4,000 responses to an online Argus poll asking: “Do you think the new road layouts have been positive for the city?”

A landslide 3,939 voters – 90 per cent – said they did not think the changes had been positive.

Just 454 voters, or ten per cent, welcomed the new road layouts.

The results, counted at 6.30pm on Thursday, follow weeks of bitter debate.

Brighton and Hove City Council hopes the new road layouts and cycle lanes will slash pollution and make travel in the city safer.

But many road users are furious. They said the new cycle lane on the seafront A259 prompted “mayhem” on Wednesday, with vehicles at a near standstill during peak hours.

The new seafront cycle lane, from the Fourth Avenue junction in Hove to the city centre, has joined the closure of Madeira Drive as one of a number of emergency traffic measures introduced by Brighton and Hove City Council.

The measures were introduced to provide more space for cyclists and pedestrians in light of social distancing rules.