Brighton Councillors Expected To Approve Two Red Routes

Councillors are being asked to agree two “red routes” on main roads in Brighton next week although hundreds of people have signed a petition objecting to one of the schemes.

If approved, the red routes would make it illegal for traffic to stop on a stretch of the A23 London Road and Preston Road and on the A270 Lewes Road.

Red routes were first introduced to keep traffic flowing to reduce the pollution from stop-start journeys by making it illegal to stop, even for loading and unloading.

Brighton and Hove City Council said that its red routes were intended to tackle anti-social parking and to keep traffic moving.

A report to councillors also said: “Enforcement incomes for red routes have already been built into parking services budgets.”

The council’s Transport and Sustainability Committee is expected to approve a draft “experimental traffic regulation order” which would be advertised for seven days.

Work can then start on putting in place the restrictions which are expected to start on Monday, April 1 next year.

The council carried out a public consultation from Monday, July 24 to Sunday, September 17.

In the A23 area, leaflets went out to 1,475 properties, prompting 299 responses. Of these, 141 were “supportive” and 66 were “unsupportive”.

In the Lewes Road area, leaflets went to 760 properties, generating 321 responses. Of these, 192 were “supportive” and 66 were “unsupportive”.

Twenty people shared their concerns about the effect on businesses.

And 357 people signed a petition objecting the London Road proposal. It said:

“The beauty of London Road / Preston Road is that we still have a few corner shops that rely mainly on daily van sales deliveries at different times.

“They will be affected, amid concerns from shopkeepers, and we are worried that these small businesses, who are already struggling with high utility costs and the cost of living, will disappear from our neighbourhood.”

Council officials have met London Road traders to discuss concerns about loading. If there is a shortfall in loading bays, the council said, then these would be increased as and when practical.

The A270 Lewes Road red route would run between Elm Grove and the Vogue Gyratory. The A23 red route would run between Cheapside and South Road.

66 Lewes Road

The new cycle lane being created between Argyle Road and Stanford Avenue is expected to delay the implementation of the A23 red route.

The scheme is expected to raise an extra £200,000 a year from fines, through four new cameras, in addition to the dozens that already monitor bus lanes.

When the council increased the number of bus lane and “bus gate” cameras from 24 to 38 over two years, the number of penalty charge notices – or fines – issued to drivers rose from 10,000 a year to 50,000.

The cost of setting up the red routes have been omitted from the report to councillors. The report said that the work would be funded from a “bus service improvement plan” grant and the council’s Carbon Neutral Fund.

The council’s Transport and Sustainability Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on Tuesday (5 December). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.