A pro-cycling group has raised concerns over the future of a cycle lane scheme along the A259.

A bid to redesign the cycle lane, which will stretch from Fourth Avenue to Wharf Road, was approved by councillors yesterday.

The redesign, expected to take around six months to develop, aims to address concerns from residents.

It is expected to scrap plans to separate the two cycle lanes by footpaths, keep traffic flowing, and remove the cycle lane “loop” around the King Alfred Leisure Centre in favour of a continuous two-way cycle lane along the seafront road.

However, the Transport Action Network claimed that the move is an attempt to scrap the scheme outright. The council strongly denies this.

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Chris Todd, director of Transport Action Network, said: “While we welcome the repeated commitment to active travel by Labour, the discussion was absent a certain reality around funding.

“There was precious little on how much terminating the contract would cost and even less on the risk to future funding awards.

“The decision appeared based on hope rather than fact.”

Mr Todd also claimed there are “huge question marks” over the affordability of the redesign of the project.

He said: “The funding for a large scheme of this type is just not there. That could leave the current undesirable situation in place for many years to come.

“We are in a climate emergency with record sea temperatures in the Atlantic last month. While it was acknowledged in the debate, politicians don’t seem to have twigged that it requires no urgent action.

“We don’t have time on our side to develop perfect solutions from day one.”

Green Party leader and opposition transport spokeman Steve Davis also slammed the move and said the proposal is “uncosted, unconsulted and undemocratic”.

He said: “Labour’s first decision about transport in this administration has already costsed the city thousands in contractor delay costs and will cost the city hundreds of thousands more.

“The costly decision has not been consulted on with the city’s residents and it was not in their 2023 manifesto.

“Labour promised they would listen to the city, but just weeks into their administration they’ve already thrown that aside.”

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Councillor Trevor Muten, who chairs the council’s transport committee, defended the redesign and said: “We are really pleased that the meeting voted to allow us to look at improving the scheme for the A259.

“It is a great shame that our plan to make this stretch of road safer for cyclists and pedestrians has created protest from the people we hope to help.

“Now that people understand the sense of our plans, I sincerely hope we can put the rhetoric behind us and all work together to make our seafront and all of our city more environmentally sound.

“We believe that giving everyone the best cycling and walking facilities we can, and publicising the benefit of using them, will encouraging people to choose active travel.

“We cannot force people to do anything, but we can make it really attractive for them to choose the best way. That is our aim.”