I quite believe it, being one of the older motoring brigade who have seen their daily car-commute take longer and longer over the years.

So I didn't feel ecstatic on learning of the county council's plan for "advisory" cycle lanes in The Boulevard, Worthing, which would reduce the dual carriageway to single-lane traffic in each direction.

Being a daily user of The Boulevard, I find that it copes well with the increasingly heavy traffic burden during morning and evening rush hours.

Cut each carriageway down to one lane, and bear in mind the future car useage from Durrington's 870-homes development, then I foresee horrendous tailbacks stretching both north beyond Littlehampton Road, and south into Shaftesbury Avenue.

Channelling traffic into one lane sounds fine from a safety point of view, but in some cases there just isn't the road capacity to hold the extra "length" of four-wheeled metal without causing problems further back along the line.

We have only to recall last year's fiasco of the new road markings on the A259 by Brooklands leisure park to realise what paint-happy planners can do to a previous well-working system.

And even though the county eventually revised the markings, the new layout is still not as efficient as the old set-up — and this week's A259 gas roadworks have exacerbated the situation, causing chaotic, knock-on effects right up to the A27.

I know local drivers face similar restrictions with the 20mph/narrower roads scheme being prepared for the Chapel Road area.

This part of the town, however, is nowhere near as busy as it was two or more decades ago, and a "more friendly" pedestrian and cycle regime is much more practical here.

Back to The Boulevard, and one has to wonder what environmental and economic price we all have to pay to solve this problem of cars and cycles on the main carriageway.

The county council says "there have been a number of accidents involving cyclists in this area", although the statement does not say how many over how long.

I'm not happy about cycle lane users having to ride past cars parked between them and the kerb, having a false sense of security in thinking that the green-marked lane renders them immune from motorists (and bus drivers) entering and exiting those parking places.

And as the cycle lanes are only advisory, will we see nearly as many cyclists using the pavement as they do at present?

Add the other issues of surrounding roads having to accommodate more parking, because of fewer spaces in The Boulevard, and the scrapping of echelon parking at Strand Parade, and there's the need for a serious rethink on the whole matter.

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