Appendix 4 – Prioritisation of future active travel routes
There is a need to review the prioritisation of 17 strategic routes identified in the council’s Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). The LCWIP was published in March 2022. The 17 priority strategic routes are shown below. Routes where improvements have been made since publication of the LCWIP are highlighted in yellow. Where the review has identified a strengthening or weakening of the case for greater priority this is noted in the change column.
|
Route |
Original Priority |
Delivery timescale |
Change |
|
Church St[1] |
1 |
Short |
|
|
North St |
2a |
Medium |
|
|
Dyke Rd - Seven Dials to The Upper Dr |
2b |
Medium |
|
|
Dyke Rd - The Upper Dr to A27 |
2c |
Medium |
|
|
Lewes Rd (south) |
3a |
Medium |
↑ |
|
Lewes Rd (north) |
3b |
Medium |
|
|
A23 (Argyle Rd to Patcham Roundabout) |
4a |
Medium |
↓ |
|
A23 (A259 to Marlborough Pl) |
4b |
Short |
|
|
A23 (Valley Gardens to Argyle Rd) |
4c |
Medium |
↑↑ |
|
Eastern Rd / Edward St |
5 |
Long |
|
|
Madeira Dr |
6a |
Short |
|
|
A259 (Wharf Rd to Palace Pier) |
6b |
Short |
↑ |
|
A259 (western border to Wharf Rd) |
6c |
Short |
|
|
Chesham Rd, St George's Rd, Bristol Rd and St James's St |
7 |
Long |
↓ |
|
Buckingham Pl / Terminus Rd / Queens Rd / West St |
8 |
Medium |
↓ |
|
A259 (Marine Parade) |
9a |
Medium |
|
|
A259 (Marine Dr) |
9b |
Short |
|
|
Western Rd (Dyke Rd to Montpelier Rd) |
10a |
Short |
|
|
New Church Rd / Church Rd / Western Rd |
10b |
Medium |
|
|
Queens Park Rd |
11 |
Long |
|
|
Old Shoreham Rd (Hangleton Rd to Dyke Rd) |
12a |
Medium |
↓ |
|
Old Shoreham Rd (east of Dyke Rd) / New England Rd / Viaduct Rd / Upper Lewes Rd |
12b |
Long |
↑↑ |
|
Old Shoreham Rd (border to Hangleton Rd) |
12c |
Long |
↓ |
|
Ditchling Rd (north) |
13a |
Short |
|
|
Ditchling Rd (south) |
13b |
Long |
|
|
Upper Hollingdean Rd |
14 |
Long |
|
|
Union Rd |
15 |
Medium |
|
|
Nevill Rd and King George VI Ave |
16a |
Medium |
|
|
Sackville Rd |
16b |
Long |
|
|
Wilson Ave |
17 |
Long |
|
Delivery timescales in the original LCWIP were ambitious in line with the high level of ambition in the document and the Department for Transport’s National Gear Change Strategy. The delivery of schemes is always dependent on levels of funding availability from various sources. Some delivery timescales have been amended to reflect recent funding decisions.
As can be seen, progress on improvements to routes has not strictly followed the prioritisation that has been set out above. This is because delivery of active travel schemes is just one objective of the council. We also seek to improve bus services, reduce congestion, improve safety etc. Opportunities may also arise to improve facilities for active travel on routes where road maintenance or other changes are taking place, allowing these routes to be progressed quicker and more efficiently than other priorities. Schemes we undertake often deliver against two or more of these objectives and opportunities to improve active travel do not occur in the priority order set out above, although all progress made in the past 4 years has been on schemes within the top 10 priority routes for improvement.
Progressed Schemes
1. Church Street. Concept designs have been developed to improve safety at the junction with Spring Gardens. Consultation on these designs is expected take place in the first half of 2026.
3a. Lewes Road (south). A Red Route was introduced in 2024 on Lewes Road between Elm Grove and the south of the Vogue gyratory. While this has not introduced infrastructure relating to active travel, enforcing no-stopping restrictions effectively on this route has resulted in improved traffic flow and better conditions for active travellers.
4a. A23: Argyle Road to Patcham roundabout. Widened footways and stepped cycle tracks were created in 2025 from Argyle Road to South Road, a distance of just over 1 kilometer. There are a further 3 kilometers of the route from South Road to Patcham roundabout. A separate scheme has been approved which will create a southbound bus lane, which can be used by cycles, from Brangwyn Crescent to Brangwyn Drive. A Red Route was introduced in 2024 on London Road (A23) between Cheapside and South Road. While this has not introduced infrastructure relating to active travel, enforcing no-stopping restrictions effectively on this route has resulted in improved traffic flow and better conditions for active travellers.
4b. A23: A259 to Marlborough Place. Valley Gardens phase 3 is currently in construction. When finished it will create enhanced public spaces and an off-road cycle track that run alongside the A23 from the seafront A259 to St Peters’ Church. This route will then be complete.
4c. A23: Valley Gardens to Argyle Road. A Red Route was introduced in 2024 on London Road (A23) between Cheapside and South Road. While this has not introduced infrastructure relating to active travel, enforcing no-stopping restrictions effectively on this route has resulted in improved traffic flow and better conditions for active travellers.
6b. A259: Wharf Rd to Palace Pier. In November 2025 cabinet approved construction of a scheme which will improve active travel infrastructure on part of this route between Wharf Road and Fourth Avenue. Councillors also agreed for officers to pursue opportunities for external funding to extend this scheme further east. It will deliver a protected two-way cycle lane, safer, better aligned crossings and junctions, and improvements to pavements and bus stops from the city’s western boundary to Fourth Avenue. This scheme will deliver 1.8km of the 6b route, leaving about 2.6km remaining.
6c. A259: Western border to Wharf Road. This route will be wholly delivered by the A259 Hove to Portslade Active Travel Scheme approved in November 2025.
10a. Western Road (Dyke Road – Montpelier Road). Improvements on this route, which were largely focused on the pedestrian environment, were completed in 2024/25.
This review of our priority strategic routes is to determine where we should focus our resources once the Hove to Portslade A259 Active Travel Scheme has been completed.
Prioritisation Methodology
Following extensive baseline network analysis including use of the Propensity to Cycle Tool, the initial route prioritisation in the LCWIP used guidance set by national government and looked at three broad factors for the 17 strategic priority routes: Effectiveness, Policy and Deliverability. The factors used to determine Effectiveness and Policy included areas of deprivation, areas that support economic development and potential to improve active travel. These are unlikely to have changed significantly over the past 4 years so this review has focused on reviewing the Deliverability elements.
In the original LCWIP prioritisation there were three factors considered: technical feasibility, scheme support and alignment with funding streams and/or other proposed council schemes. Each factor was scored on a 1-3 scale.
The technical feasibility score element remains unchanged for all schemes as the broad potential interventions on each route remains unchanged. However, both the scheme support and alignment with funding/workstreams factors were reviewed as the context for these elements have changed.
Two wholly new elements were also considered in the review of prioritisation; Network Improvement and Accessibility Improvement. This was assessed on the same 1-3 scale:
|
Criteria |
Proposed scoring |
||
|
|
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Network Improvement |
Connects two parts of the existing high-quality network |
Connects to and extends the existing high-quality network |
Does not connect to the existing high-quality network |
|
Accessibility Improvement |
Significantly improves footway condition, provision of dropped kerbs and does not negatively impact on disabled parking |
Step change in provision in one element or moderate improvement in two. |
Minor improvement only or reduces availability of Blue Badge parking. |
The Network Improvement element was more cycling focused, whereas the Accessibility Improvement was more focused on the pedestrian environment.
Re-prioritisation
Changes to delivery timescales can be seen in Table 1. An explanation for these is as follows:
3a. Lewes Rd (south). This route scored highly for Network Improvement as it would link with the Valley Gardens scheme with high quality cycle infrastructure on the north of Lewes Road.
4a. A23: Argyle Road to Patcham roundabout. This route now has weaker alignment with other work streams but remains a key north/south route
4c. A23: Valley Gardens to Argyle Road. This route scored highly for Network Improvement as it would link Valley Gardens to the high-quality cycle infrastructure from Argyle Road to South Road. It also has stronger alignment with current workstreams. A network study of Preston Circus has been committed to.
6b. A259 (Wharf Rd to Palace Pier). This route scored highly for Network Improvement as it would link the A259 Active Travel schemes to the east with the Valley Gardens scheme.
7. Chesham Rd, St George's Rd, Bristol Rd and St James's St. This route was judged to have lower support due to the inclusion of modal filters on St George’s Road. It remains an important east/west link.
8. Buckingham Pl / Terminus Rd / Queens Rd / West St. This route was judged to have lower support due to the inclusion of modal filters on Queens Road. It remains an important north/south link.
12a. Old Shoreham Rd (Hangleton Rd to Dyke Rd). Some developer funding has been secured for investigating options for improvements to the Old Shoreham Road / Sackville Road junction. Overall, this route now has weaker alignment with other workstreams following the removal of the temporary active travel scheme on Old Shoreham Road.
12b. Old Shoreham Rd (east of Dyke Rd) / New England Rd / Viaduct Rd / Upper Lewes Rd. This route scored highly for Network Improvement as it would link the Old Shoreham Road cycle lane with those on the A23 from Argyle Road to South Road. It also scored highly for accessibility and has a strong alignment with current workstreams.
12c. Old Shoreham Rd (western boundary to Hangleton Rd). This route now has weaker alignment with other workstreams following the removal of the temporary active travel scheme on Old Shoreham Road. Improvements have recently been completed by West Sussex County Council to the Upper Shoreham Road to the west, mainly focusing on crossings.