Safer, better streets programme for 2025/26

Brighton & Hove will be seeing more safer, better streets being delivered over the next year.

We’ve published a list of the top 10 city streets that we’re prioritising for safety improvements.

Based on requests we receive from residents and assessing parts of the city on information such as casualty data, traffic information and areas that need walking and cycling improvements, we’ve put together a priority list for 2025/26.

• New England Road / New England Street junction
• Silverdale Road / Old Shoreham Road
• Nevill Road south of Nevill Ave near Orchard Road
• Surrenden Road at Surrenden Holt
• Court Farm Road west of Nevill Close
• Holmes Avenue next to the junctions with Wayfield Avenue and Elm Drive / Cranmer Avenue, Hove
• Hartington Road / Lewes Road (or near Fairlight & St Martin)
• Surrenden Road (north end)
• Locks Hill north of St Nicolas School
• Freshfield Road, junction between Queen’s Park Terrace and Cuthbert Road

The improvements will be subject to available funding, which includes £550,000 from the city’s Local Transport Plan budget.

Read more about our Safer, Better Streets programme and how to request improvements.

How we assess and prioritise improvements

Every year we get dozens of requests for road safety improvements across the city.

They include concerns around things like speeding, cycle safety, rat running and perceived collision blackspots.

If a site meets the initial criteria, it moves onto a more in-depth assessment using 16 different safety and social categories including casualty data, access to key services, walking and cycling, traffic counts, accessibility and the perception of danger.

Scoring each site on the criteria, we then produce a list of the top 10 locations where improvements are most urgently needed.

Improving the safety of our streets for everyone

Councillor Trevor Muten, Cabinet member for Transport, Parking and Public Realm, said: “We’re working very hard to make our roads safer and better for everyone in the city. This list means we can prioritise those areas most in need of improvement.

“The council receives a lot of requests from residents every year, but the scoring system we started using in 2023 means we can better assess them objectively and fairly based on traffic data and other social factors.

“We’ve done some great work in the last year on junctions like Shirley Drive and Blackman Street to make them safer and to improve the junctions for pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles and I look forward to seeing more improvements to come.”

Delivered in the last year

In 2024, we delivered several improvements across the city through our Safer, Better Streets programme including:

• Shirley Drive with The Droveway
• Blackman Street junction with Trafalgar Street
• A new, safer junction at Bristol Gardens, Whitehawk Road, Roedean Road and Arundel Road in Whitehawk
• Old Shoreham Road near Hove Park

Picture: Junction of Shirley Drive and The Droveway

Picture: Junction of Bristol Gardens, Whitehawk Road, Roedean Road and Arundel Road in Whitehawk

On the way

Safer, Better Streets schemes being developed for construction following consultation with residents.

• Surrenden Road junction with Preston Drove
• Winfield Avenue, paid for using developer funding
• Elm Grove junction with Queen’s Park Road
• Elm Grove junction with Hampden Road and De Montfort Road
• Elm Grove junction with Bonchurch Road
• Nevill Avenue junction with Holmes Avenue
• Goldstone Villas / Clarendon Villas / Eaton Villas
• Newtown Road / Fonthill Road junction, paid for using developer funding
• Dyke Road / Upper North Street junction

Projects across the city

Safer, Better Streets is just part of what we’re doing across the city to improve travel and transport for our residents, businesses and visitors.

• Work is currently underway on the exciting Valley Gardens Phase 3 project to enhance the space around the Old Steine heading down to the seafront
• We’ll soon be starting work to install a new bus lane on Marine Parade to support more reliable bus journeys into the city
• We’re currently developing plans for a Park & Ride scheme to be delivered in the summer
• A project to make active travel improvements to the A23 near Preston Park began last year that will include new, safer cycle lanes, pavements, crossings, junctions and bus stops
• Our School Streets scheme recently delivered road safety improvements to Fairlight and St Paul’s primary schools