Labour will suspend and review all Green-initiated transport schemes if elected to run the council in May, including plans to halve the number of lanes around the Old Steine.
THEY promise to put the brakes on controversial Green transport schemes and have announced ten headline transport pledges.
Launching the transport pledges, Cllr Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour and Cooperative group, said: “Labour’s transport plan for the city will promote economic growth, sustainability, inclusion and safety. We will create an inclusive and integrated transport system that enables residents and visitors to travel safely and efficiently. We want environmentally sustainable transport that supports the local economy and that of the wider region, and which works for the benefit of everyone in the city.”
Labour will:
• Suspend and review Green-initiated transport schemes such as Valley Gardens and Viaduct Road to ensure the proposals are fully funded, realistic and safe.
• Give the seafront much greater priority with a better coordinated, top-level focus and take every opportunity to bid for external funding to invest in seafront infrastructure, particularly for areas such as the Madeira Terraces.
• Explore the creation of park-and-ride services from the edge of the city and help reduce congestion at peak periods such as Bank Holidays, summer weekends and Christmas.
• Be a strong voice for rail commuters, putting pressure on the train operators to improve their services to the city, and continue to lobby for a second main line for Brighton that will be needed as the current route nears full capacity.
• Increase parking charges only by what is fair and affordable.
• Replace outdated traffic signals with a modern linked system that identifies and eases congestion, bringing Brighton and Hove into line with best practice elsewhere in Europe.
• Promote the use of zero- or low-emission forms of transport, especially in the city centre, specifically by offering discounted parking permits to traders investing in clean vehicles, and support the promotion of clean diesel technologies by the city’s bus operators.
• Repair the city’s cycle lanes and continue to promote safe, accessible cycling infrastructure.
• Work in partnership with bus companies to improve bus services to outlying areas and develop an improved partnership with them to promote better value fares for young people in training and apprenticeships.
• Work with credit unions to deliver low-cost season ticket loans to young people in training and apprenticeships.
Deputy Leader Councillor Gill Mitchell said: “It is time to get back to sensible transport policies, rather than the rushed and badly-implemented changes we have seen in Viaduct Road and elsewhere. We have serious concerns over the Green plans for Valley Gardens, which the Tories support, as it commits the council to a long-term, open-ended funding commitment at a time of rapidly shrinking budgets.”
Councillor Morgan added: “Labour will deliver transport that works to support the city’s businesses – especially its small and medium-sized enterprises – as well as the economy across the region. Labour wants to reduce the congestion that is damaging the city’s economy and reputation as a place to visit and do business.”
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