New bus and cycle lane will bring better and reliable journeys

Work is scheduled to begin next week on a new bus and cycle lane designed to make journey times more reliable, improve safety and traffic flow, and reduce congestion on a key route into the city.

It’s being built on the southbound side of the A23 at Patcham between Brangwyn Crescent and Brangwyn Drive.

The bus and cycle lane, which would operate 24 hours a day, will replace the current cycle lane and could be used by taxis.

The improvements also include a new pedestrian crossing, a new road surface and a speed limit reduction from 40mph to 30mph.

As this part of the road is very wide, there wouldn’t be any need to reduce the number of traffic lanes. It will mean buses, cyclists and taxis will be able to use the new lane, freeing up space for other road users and helping to keep traffic moving.

It’s being funded by the Department for Transport through the council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan.

Picture: The A23 at Patcham

More information

Work is scheduled to begin on Wednesday 18 March and expected to take around 10 weeks to complete.

Residents in the area will still have access to their homes; however, there may be a need for temporary traffic lights at times.

Better, safer and reliable journeys

Councillor Trevor Muten, Cabinet member for Transport and City Infrastructure, said: “These improvements will make bus journey times more reliable, but also improve safety for residents and cyclists.

“This is a busy route into the city centre, and a new bus and cycle lane will mean buses will be more likely to run on time. Since we don’t need to remove any traffic lanes, it also means cars and other traffic will have more space, reducing congestion and traffic moving.

A new pedestrian crossing and reducing the speed limit will also make the area safer for everyone to travel through.”