Cycling group takes legal action against county council over Shoreham cycle lane removal

The council removed the Upper Shoreham Road lane in January as part of the reversal of several schemes across West Sussex set up during the summer lockdown.

While the other lanes in West Sussex were almost universally criticised, the case for Shoreham’s was less cut and dried as it was proven to have increased cycle journeys without affecting traffic or raising air pollution.

Now charity Cycling UK has submitted an application for the council’s decision to be judicially reviewed, branding it ‘irrational and unlawful’.

The group has accused the council of failing to carry out an equality impact assessment before making the decision and ignoring the statutory guidance on the management of their highways network.

A spokesman for the group said: “Despite the popularity of the route for Shoreham’s families and residents, and no evidence to support unsubstantiated claims the lane had caused congestion or traffic delays, an arbitrary decision was made to remove the lane by councillor Roger Elkins, West Sussex County Council’s cabinet member for highways and infrastructure.”

The decision had initially been called in by councillors, with a majority of 6-2, but Mr Elkins opted to stick with the original plan to remove all of the West Sussex lanes en masse.