A GRAND plan to build a cycle lane linking Brighton and Shoreham will not be going ahead.

There were plans underway to link the existing Brighton and Hove cycle lane in Old Shoreham Road to the West Sussex boundary.

However, the leader of Adur council says he used “a bit of common sense” to veto the lane between Hangleton Road and the Holmbush roundabout.

Councillor Neil Parkin said: “I spoke with the leader of West Sussex County Council – he is a listening person.

“He told me ‘it’s your patch, you know best’ and gave me the veto.

“Because of this, the bit between Brighton and Hove and the Holmbush roundabout will not be going ahead.

“I’ve had a few people get onto me to say ‘thank goodness, someone’s got some common sense’.”

This will mean that the dual carriageway will not be changed with both lanes remaining open to traffic.

Cllr Parkin said his concerns centred around congestion, safety and access for businesses.

“The road has just come out of an area of high pollution levels,” he said.

“You would have stationary traffic on the road and that would knock it straight back up.”

Taxi driver Mr Parkin was asked to apologise after refereed to Brighton as a “dump” in June.

Cllr Parkin said he has not done so.

Temporary

That month, West Sussex County Council was given funding for seven temporary cycleway schemes by the Department for Transport.

The decision gave the go-ahead for 21 kilometres of new and improved cycle lanes to promote cycling to enable sustainable travel choices on key commuting routes to relieve the pressures on public transport and as an alternative to the car.

The scheme was made up of seven separate cycle lanes across the county.

These would be enforced with temporary 20mph speed limits, road markings and barriers.

The proposal would included a cycle lane in Worthing from the A27 Grove Lodge area to The Steyne on the seafront.

The existing bike lane in the A259 in Bognor was widened with the potential of one lane of the dual carriageway converted to a cycle lane.

In Horsham two lanes of Albion Way were coned off between Sainsbury’s and the Bishopric to provide space to walk and cycle.

Meanwhile, in Crawley the space on the road between Three Bridges and Manor Royal was “reallocated” to link existing cycle lanes to the town centre.

The existing bike lane in London Road, East Grinstead, was also extended from Engalee to the Lingfield Road roundabout.

And finally a new cycle lane was created from Chichester Railway Station to Spitalfield Lane.

One lane of Oaklands Way was converted into a bike lane as part of the plans.

“We hope to make further announcements on funding for both walking and cycling provision in the county once we have details of a second tranche of funding,” said transport chief Cllr Roger Elkins at the time.