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News Update: A259 Chichester to Emsworth active travel improvements

Following the public consultation in the summer, a number of individual respondents and local stakeholder groups voiced opposition to the proposed shared use cycleway footway in preference to cyclists continuing to ride on the carriageway sharing with vehicles rather than pedestrians. Specifically, the preference is for on carriageway riding to be segregated from traffic where space permits, or assisted by 20mph speed limits where segregation is not achievable.

Following this feedback, the County Council asked National Highways if it would support such a change to the scheme. National Highways has indicated it would be willing to consider such a scheme, provided the council establishes to what degree lower speed limits can effectively create a safer, more attractive environment for active travel.

To understand what is possible with regards to creating a safer environment, the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport is setting up a county councillor-led Task and Finish (TFG) Group. This will review the principles of speed limit setting, safety and traffic management in the county in general – not only for the ChEmRoute scheme.

The current expectation is that National Highways, the County Council, Sustrans and other key stakeholders will then be able to consider to what degree lower speeds limits along the route, supported by other engineering measures, might enable an alternative on-road scheme to be designed. Any changes to the proposals will need to align with the Government’s cycle infrastructure design guidance LTN1/20.

The TFG is expected to have made recommendations on proposed changes to speed limit policy in the summer. Therefore work on a revised solution for the ChEmRoute will be deferred until this point.