SIX.. Area-wide solutions: Primary cycle routes

Case study

Newmarket Road/East Road roundabout:
a major barrier within an important route

Cyclists arriving at the Elizabeth Way roundabout, linking East Road with Newmarket Road, are met with an intimidating and entirely unsatisfactory obstacle. The underpass system is an example of design from the 1960s and 1970s which is now extremely dated. It is difficult and time-consuming to manoeuvre through and also raises real concerns for personal safety, especially at night.

If this area were to be designed from scratch today an underpass would probably not even have been considered.

The junction needs to be replaced with one which is all on one level and served by crossings. There are plans to do away with the underpass and redesign the junction, but in the meantime it is intimidating and could put new cyclists off the idea of abandoning their cars.