A NEW cycle route is set to be built after the city council won a grant of £1.5 million from the Government.

A Brighton and Hove City Council scheme involves resurfacing large areas of Western Road damaged by bus traffic, removing traffic islands, improving crossing points, and creating a cycle route.

The council has been given the cash from the Department for Transport’s Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund.

It said the improvements would “make it easier to travel into the city centre by public transport as well as making it safer for pedestrians, in line with making the city centre more accessible for all our residents and visitors”.

It added “public transport arteries will run more smoothly for those walking, cycling and using public transport”.

The council said bike use sky-rocketed in the first quarter of 2020, with people cycling for lockdown exercise and looking for a new way to travel.

It argued the new lane would be a “key access link in the cycling infrastructure of the city”.

Councillor Anne Pissaridou said: “The announcement of £1.5m funding for this programme is very welcome.”

“It is well known that we are working towards Brighton and Hove being carbon neutral by 2030 and adapting and improving our main roads in and out of the city centre to transform the clean public transport links is an important milestone to reaching this goal.”