I take a look at the recently upgraded bike lanes along Preston Road in Brighton, which were completed in the summer of 2025. Overall there has been an improvement over the previous design, however there is still room to make things better.
Read more from the local Council: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/2025/a23-active-travel-improvements-complete
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#Cycling #BikeLanes #BrightonandHove #Brighon #HighwayInfrastructure
An upgraded cycle lane has recently opened on the A23 in Brighton. The upgraded section of bike lane runs between Argyle Road and Preston Drive and is parallelled to Preston Park for most of its route. The local council announced the start of the works in the summer of 2024 and announced their completion towards the end of July in 2025. So, it took just over a year to upgrade this section of road. The section which has perhaps seen the biggest improvement is that between Stanford Avenue and Argal Road, where previously the two-way bike path on the pavement was far too narrow and didn’t provide enough space for people waiting for buses, those cycling, and people on foot. But now, the works have completely changed this, removing a lane for cars, and giving that over to a two-way bike path, which is much wider than previously. It is welcome to see that the mature trees on this section of road were retained and that the bike lane didn’t require their removal. Another section of the route which has been significantly improved is at the junction between Preston Road and Stanford Avenue. Previously, bicycles traveling south had to join the pavement and use the normal pedestrian crossings to get over to the southbound section of the bike route to get to Argal Road. But now there is a dedicated bicycle crossing in parallel to the pedestrian crossing which means that bicycles can cross legally and safely at this junction. It is good to see that these bicycle crossings are birectional which gives people cycling to Preston Park from the south direct access into the park. North of the junction with Stanford Avenue is where the bike lane splits as it did previously with single direction bike lanes either side of the main carriageway. This section of the route has also seen improvements with the installation of floating bus stops, new pedestrian crossings, and wider bike lanes. Much of the old street furniture, including street lamps, has also been retained. You will notice that many sections of this route have been colored green, which is consistent with the bike lanes on MadiRaa Drive, which are also green, but they are not consistent with those on Valley Gardens and Victoria Gardens, which have not been colored at all. I do feel that the council should have taken the opportunity to improve the section of this national cycle network route between Campbell Road and Elder Place as this section can feel quite dangerous at times trying to get between the back streets which this route forms part of further south. I’ve also seen criticism online that sections of the tarmac route are quite bumpy here. However, overall the new bike lanes make a significant improvement to active travel in this area of Brighton, and I look forward to seeing more improvements in the future.