This article was published in 2015, in Newsletter 122.
The Cambridge guided bus route is now lit in the urban fringe both north and south of Cambridge. After some struggles and delays, and with the support of local councillors, the lights on the foot/cycle way adjacent to the Busway were turned on early in September.
Following the original opening of the guided bus routes in 2011 we’ve now had numbers of ‘upgrades’ to the foot/cycle way, including a blacktop surface over the whole length and solar studs on the rural sections in the north.
The lights on the southern section were switched on over the weekend of 5/6 September. I spoke to a couple of users, one on foot and one on a bike, late on Monday evening. Both were very pleased, with the walker being a regular user, and the person on a bike saying she was only using it because it was now lit.
The modern LED lighting with a good cut-off seems appropriate for this particular route. In the south this route passes through the ‘green wedge’ near to Hobson’s Brook, and compared with the lighting on some floodlit car parks or playing fields, the impact seems small.
We hope that this lighting will encourage many more to walk or cycle this route as part of a daily commute. In the past we have heard of those who will not use the route on dark nights.
The remaining issues in the south are control of vegetation, including some tree branches that reduce the effectiveness of the lighting, and the failure to light the Addenbrooke’s spur, which can surely be funded by planning gain?
Thanks are due to all who have worked to make this lighting happen.
Jim Chisholm