Our latest project – Seaford Better Cycling

Seaford is a small coastal town in East Sussex with a population of around 24,000 (2021 census). It lies in the south-eastern corner of Lewes District, surrounded by the South Downs National Park to the west, north and east and the Channel to the south. Seaford station is at the end of a short branch railway line from Lewes while the A259 major road runs through the town centre.

Seaford Community Partnership commissioned Transport Initiatives to carry out a Better Cycling Options Study for Seaford, as part of a suite of projects being developed by Ouse Valley Climate Action (OVCA). Enabling people in Seaford to choose to cycle more, especially shorter trips, would bring many benefits including improved public health. People who walk or cycle also spend more money in local shops.

We reviewed transport in the area, including mapping the locations of reported pedestrian and cyclist collisions and investigating travel patterns. Most collisions occur in the town centre with hotspots along the A259, while trips were local in nature and mostly short. Nowhere is more than 1.5miles from the town centre.

We undertook a Cycle Skills Network Audit (CSNA) to assess provision for cycling and crossings for pedestrians. While the vast majority of the roads in Seaford are suitable for cycling the busier roads create barriers to easy and safe cycling across the town. The Audit showed that for people who are less confident when cycling, few journeys are achievable without some stress or inconvenience. In particular the town is divided by the A259 major road, between Brighton and Eastbourne.

Potential for Cycling was assessed using the DfT’s Propensity to Cycle Tool (PCT). Applying the scenario for the Government’s target to double cycle trips nationally would see journey to work trips in Seaford rising to at least 3% with some areas reaching 6%. Allocating these trips to routes in the town showed a strong demand for trips parallel to the coast but with at least one important route heading through the town centre and inland.

The PCT only considers journeys to work or school. The best way to find out about other trips and also perceived problems and barriers is to talk to people. An early on-line survey produced information on trips people wanted to make and problems cyclists had. This, plus our own site visits and the PCT output led to a network of potential routes that we took back to local people at an open public meeting.

Cycle Parking is an essential part of any cycle network. We audited all the public cycle parking spaces in the town finding 126 spaces; nearly a third of which were at the railway station. An assessment showed that locations and access were generally good but the condition was often poor. Some had been driven into for instance and a salty atmosphere doesn’t help much either. We made proposals for improving 19 locations and new locations to increase the number of spaces to 304.

We published a final report at the end of 2023 which we presented to Seaford Town Council in early 2024. Key recommendations included:

• Set up a Seaford Active Travel Partnership
• Develop a route network starting with the area around Seaford Head School
• Install improved cycle parking at an early stage.

Where next? A more detailed and costed set of proposals for the highest priority routes.

Posted 19/03/2024