THREE.. Bad infrastructure... and the problems it causes

Case study

Coldham’s Lane Bridge

The fairly new bridge for cyclists on Coldham’s Lane is a classic example of inadequate provision for cyclists in Cambridge.

The main problem with the design, which we highlighted at the time, is that the cycle bridge is on only one side of the road bridge. Anyone cycling from the city centre out along Coldham’s Lane is forced to stop and cross the road twice. The bridge is too narrow, the gradient too steep and it has poor access.

The result is that people are coerced into using a substandard provision that fails to meet their needs, leading to conflict with drivers who think cyclists no longer have the right to be on the road here, and this again has inevitable knock-on effects on the numbers on two wheels.

Poorly thought out, cheaply constructed, the bridge is not of high quality and the whole structure will need to be replaced in a decade or two - with luck by 2020.

When this bridge is replaced a realistic amount of money must be spent to address these design problems. The whole road bridge should be rebuilt, with proper space for cyclists and walkers, to provide a long term solution and not a short term, botched, quick fix.

The Coldham’s Lane bridge experience offers, we believe, an important lesson for city planners that needs to be learned for the future – particularly when the time comes to design the proposed cycle provision on Hills Road Bridge, for instance.