Two hundred new bicycle parking spaces are scheduled to be installed in central Brighton & Hove by the end of this financial year making it that little bit easier to cycle and park safely in the city.
The city council has just started a last phase for 2017/18 which will see stands installed for 124 bikes, mainly in central Brighton & Hove. Among 10 locations are Western Road, West Street, The Level and Palmeira Square.
Last autumn, stands for 74 bikes were installed as part of the Hanover and Elm Grove parking zone.
Since 2006 the council has installed parking for almost 2000 cycles.
Anyone can submit suggestions for locations for cycle stands using a form on the council website. New requests will be considered for the 2018/19 financial year.
Chair of the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee, Cllr Gill Mitchell said: “Cycle parking is a good use of limited space and money. You can park about 10 bikes in the space of one car.
“Cycling is growing so much here that it can be difficult to find a secure cycle parking space in some areas. So we’ll continue with more installations next year and we’ll keep asking developers to provide them as part of planning permissions.”
One of the biggest frustrations to those who regularly cycle in the city is the amount of abandoned bikes collecting rust and taking up spaces that could otherwise be used.
Cycling to work across the city doubled between 2001 and 2011 according to the Census with just under five per cent of its population cycle to work. Nine per cent of adult residents cycle at least once a week.
The local BTN Bikeshare scheme, launched last September, is reportedly the UK’s most-used outside London.
