A 45-year-old local woman, who has not been officially named yet, has been tragically killed on the A259 (reported here in the Chichester Post). She was pronounced dead at the scene of the indecent. It is incredibly sad that a woman taking a responsible decision to adopt sustainable transport, has paid such a great price. She regularly cycled to work between Fishborne and Bosham which ought to be a simple, safe and sensible cycle ride between two adjacent harbour villages. Our thoughts are with her family in this difficult time of their loss.

For decades local highway planning has prioritised motor vehicle use above all else! Vastly expensive projects have been undertaken like the A27 dual carriageway built between Portsmouth and Chichester in parallel to the already existing A259 and B2146 roads. Money from this project was supposed to have been put aside for a cycleway but this funding has apparently vanished into smoke. There is now an agreed plan to expand the A27 yet again with a huge stretch of dual carriageway ruining ancient woodlands in order to bypass Arundel. The A27 around Chichester is also in line for developments which appears entirely focused towards motor vehicle users.

ChiCycle has hosted the ChEmRoute action group webpages for almost a year. The ChEmRoute pages outline the proposals for  provision of a safe, direct high quality cycleway between Emsworth and Chichester. Although there is already a designated cycle route along the A259, the existing cycle way provision is piecemeal, poorly integrated, indirect (often leading away from a desired direct route), virtually impossible to follow and in places dangerous. The ChEmRoute action group has long highlighted the neglect for the safety of cyclists along the A259. ChiCycle members also strongly challenge the indifference shown towards cyclists (and pedestrians) by local planing authorities. We believe it should be quick, easy and safe for everyone to make local journeys without resorting to driving a motor vehicle. More needless deaths like this cannot be tolerated.

Mark Record (on behalf of ChiCycle)