Elections

I would favour a joint proposal by the City and County Councils for Cambridge to become a Cycling Demonstration City. I would like to see rides organised prior to major road schemes being presented to the AJC. These should be attended by Councillors, Highway Engineers, and representatives of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign and CTC. This would allow those involved in the design and decision making processes to fully appreciate the cycling specific issues of their decisions. I know from experience that getting Officers and Councillors on bikes at proposed sites can produce better outcomes for cyclists.

I believe that every traffic light controlled junction should have Advanced Stop Lines, and that far more on-road cycle lanes should be given coloured surface treatments. I would also push the County Council to adopt to the "London" colour scheme with red surface treatments for bus lanes and green surface treatments for cycle lanes.

I believe that Councillors need to ensure that every school in their ward has participated in the SRTS scheme, and should try to get 20 mph speed limits implemented on roads around school entrances or exits.

Road traffic laws are there for the safety of all road users. They apply to everyone and should be enforced. I think it would be worth investigating whether the is any way for the LAPE wardens to be able to enforce cycle and bus lane parking offences, and whether the new regulations allowing for CCTV to be used would allow better enforcement of both static and moving vehicle offences. I also think that in certain areas encroachment into cycle lanes could be prevented with better highway engineering, making it self-enforcing. I also believe that schemes allowing cyclists to treat the leftmost exit of a traffic-light controlled junction as a give-way and cycle-only contra-flow schemes should be promoted.

Anyone who jumps red lights should be prosecuted, but this is clearly easier in the case of cars that have registration plates. However, I can understand why the Police would find it hard to justify waiting at a set of lights in case cyclists jump them, but if there is sufficient information about particular junctions that are frequently being abused, maybe the Police could use this intelligence to mount a targeted operation.

With regard to the cycle lighting issue, I believe that the Police should mount a two-week operation specifically targeting cycle lighting in the weeks following the clocks going back to GMT every autumn, as the dark evenings make these the most dangerous weeks of the year for traffic collisions. This should not prevent action being taken at other times of the year.

The conversion of (former) railway infrastructure into cycling and walking facilities is a great idea that has been successful elsewhere. The gradients necessary for trains are easy to cycle on. Perhaps the routes of other former lines like those via Burwell and Linton could be investigated to see if there is any potential to convert them into cycleways.

The only pitfall with cycleways alongside active railways is the heightened risk of trespass or antisocial behaviour, but good design procedures can minimise these.

The concept is great, but whether our current roads are wide enough to implement it is a more difficult question. Although not in Cherry Hinton ward, part of the A1134, formed by Mowbray Road, Perne Road & Brooks Road may have potential for the trial of this type of segregation. Perhaps a trial could also be run on current mandatory cycle lanes that are wide enough by enhancing the solid white line with rumble blocks similar to those found on motorway hard shoulder lines.

I believe that the congestion charging plans have not looked sufficiently at improving the area's rail infrastructure. There is an obvious opportunity to create a railway station to serve Cherry Hinton, this could have substantial benefits to the economy of Cherry Hinton. It is over ten years since the population of Cherry Hinton were last asked to consider this suggestion, so in light of the congestion charging plans, I believe this idea should be consulted upon again. I also believe that there should be more provision for cyclists to use bike-rail-bike to commute, a method that is currently restricted by the rail operators.

Investment should be made to ensure that all buses, coaches and taxis operating within the City have the lowest possible particulate and NOx emissions. Perhaps a target should be set of all buses meeting the Euro IV or Euro V emissions standards. I believe that the Council should track the progress of the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ), and if it is successful investigate the potential of combining this with the Congestion Charging.

The bus operators should be encouraged to trial cycle racks on their buses to allow people in villages to use bike-bus-bike, similar to schemes that operate in Snowdonia.

Clearly the congestion charge has potential to allow high-quality cycle routes to be developed in and around the city. I would like to see better on-road cycle lanes for confident cyclists as well as off-road structures for less confident cyclists, and at complex junctions. Such cycle routes need to be designed to be as direct as possible, and to allow cyclists to keep their momentum.

Certain development could be designated "car-free", they should provide parking for deliveries, visitors and disabled residents, but should have sufficient secure cycle parking for all residents and be on well served public transport corridors.

For commercial developments, as well as requiring adequate cycle parking, planners should ensure that adequate changing and drying facilities are provided for employees who cycle.

Any new major developments should be engineered to actively promote cycling as a primary means of transport.

I believe that the County Council's prioritisation of pot-hole repair should consider whether the pot-hole is in the leftmost 2m of the road, and this should cause the repair to be escalated to a higher priority because of the increased risk to cyclists. Similar criteria should apply to preventing standing water.

The County Council also needs to work with statutory undertakers to replace metal inspection covers with high-traction surfaces at bends and junctions.

The County Council should re-word the currently unenforceable Traffic Regulation Order which prohibits cycling on the Roman Road (Worsted Street). I believe it ought to be changed so that only Motor vehicles are prohibited.

I believe that the cycle lane infrastructure in Cherry Hinton needs to be reviewed and improved, as in my opinion, it is currently a bit of a mess.

I would like to see the speed limit on Limekiln Road reduced from 60mph to 30mph and a width limit of 6'6" (except for access to premises) put in place to make this road safer for all road users including cyclists.

I am a member of Cambridge Cycling Campaign, and was a member of London Cycling Campaign when I lived in the London Borough of Redbridge. I regularly cycle from my home in Abbey ward to my workplace in Cherry Hinton ward.