This article was published in 2016, in Newsletter 124.
The Cross City Cycling consultation is made up of five projects which will form strategic links to radial and orbital cycle routes. These projects will be integrated with other City Deal projects such as the Chisholm Trail, Milton Road and Histon Road.
The schemes have a budget of £4 million, plus £25,000 for cycle parking throughout the city and and £200,000 for minor improvements to the cycling network. Details for the parking and improvements have not yet been released.
The five projects include:
A. Arbury Road Route
B. Links to Cambridge North Rail Station and the Science Park (Green End Road & Nuffield Road)
C. Ditton Lane and links to East Cambridge
D. Hills Road and Addenbrooke’s Route
E. Fulbourn/Cherry Hinton Eastern Access
A. Arbury Road Route
This project aims to improve the currently poor cycling provision on Arbury Road which will face increased traffic from new housing developments in north Cambridge.
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The proposal includes segregated, raised cycling lanes which are usually 2 metres wide, although there are some points where they narrow to 1.8 metres. To accommodate these cycleways, traffic lanes will be narrowed and kerblines moved. The traffic-calming islands will be removed as will the layby in front of St Laurence Catholic Primary School.
The roundabouts at the St Albans Road, Mere Road and Ablemarle Road junctions will be removed and replaced with raised table T-junctions with cycleway priority at the side road. Two options are provided for the Mansel Way junction. The first is to de-signalise the junction and provide cycleway priority over the side road. The second is to close the junction, except to cyclists and pedestrians.
The plans for Arbury Road stop at the Arbury Court Play Area, leaving the existing provision to connect to the junction with Milton Road.
The proposed works for this section will link with the county council’s Economy and Environment Committee’s 2015 plans to improve walking and cycling on Arbury Road, between King’s Hedges Road and Mere Way.
B. Links to Cambridge North Station and the Science Park
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This already busy cycle route will become increasingly important with the new Cambridge North Rail Station and growth in the Science Park. It also connects to the Guided Busway cycle paths via Nuffield Road.
It is proposed to use uni-and bi-directional segregated cycle lanes on Green End Road where there is sufficient width. Narrower sections will have on-road advisory lanes and the removal of centre line markings. The proposal for Nuffield Road is to have shared-use paths.
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There are a number of changes proposed for the junction of Nuffield Road and Green End Road with the intention of improving safety for cycling and walking. This includes kerb protection for cyclists continuing north along Green End Road; those travelling south will need to negotiate the mini-roundabout on the road.
Side-road junction improvements will include radii reduction. The Scotland Road junction will see significant build out of pavements to tighten corners with the intention of slowing motor vehicles and making it safer for pedestrians and cyclists. At the Green Park junction a Dutch-style recessed side-road cycle priority is proposed. This set-back means that drivers can make two manoeuvres: one turning in/out of the road, and another crossing the cycle lane, with good 90-degree visibility.
The new floating bus stop design seen on Huntingdon and Hills Roads is planned for a number of locations on this route.
C. Ditton Lane and links to East Cambridge
Ditton Lane is a key link to Fen Ditton Primary School and Horningsea. It is also crossed by National Cycle Network routes 11 and 52. The route and junctions are currently too dangerous for children to cycle the relatively short distances to Fen Ditton Primary School. Increased traffic is anticipated on this corridor owing to the Wing housing development on Marshall’s brownfield sites north of Newmarket Road.
The proposed improvements for this section are to increase the width of shared-use paths on both sides of Ditton Lane from Fen Ditton High Street to the Primary School to 2.5m. North of the Primary School the path will not be altered.
A number of crossing improvements are planned including a toucan crossing north of the primary school. The Fen Ditton High Street/High Ditch Road road junction will see reduction of radii, removal of central islands, and provision of long speed tables to aid crossing Fen Ditton High Street and High Ditch Road. At the Fison Road junction there will be carriageway realignment and widening of the toucan crossing.
D. Hills Road and Addenbrooke’s Route
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This is a busy route for the Biomedical Campus and access to local schools and sixth form colleges. The proposed improvements here will connect to the new Hills Road cycle lanes and extend to the Addenbrooke’s roundabout.
There are two options for this project which aim to provide safe access for pedestrians and cyclists to the Biomedical Campus and local area.
Option A
A contraflow heading south from the Hills Road/Queen Edith’s Road junction towards the Biomedical Campus to connect to the existing cycle facility through the Addenbrooke’s car park. This contraflow path is accessed via an advanced green light at the Hills Road/Queen Edith’s Road junction to enable a south/west diagonal crossing.
Option B
This option does not have the contraflow cycle path, which is replaced by a planting of sedum. The diagonal crossing is not encouraged.
Both options include:
- Raised 2.3-metre-wide, unidirectional cycleways on both sides of Hills Road
- New ‘floating’ bus stop designs as seen in recent Hills Road improvements
- Increased size of ‘cycle box’ with advanced stop lines and advanced green lights at the Hills Road/Queen Edith’s Road junctions
- Toucan crossing at the roundabout junction to be implemented with roundabout improvements
- Shared-use paths for access to Addenbrooke’s site from the roundabout.
It is indicated that Queen Edith’s Way and Long Road will be improved in future schemes. In the interim the shared-use paths will remain in their current states.
E. Fulbourn/Cherry Hinton eastern access
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This is an important route for city-centre access and significant employment and housing growth in the Cherry Hinton and Fulbourn Road area is expected to put further pressure on local roads.
This project will contribute to the cycleway network in southeast Cambridge and links to the proposals for the Robin Hood junction.
Heading east from the Robin Hood junction, unidirectional raised cycleways of 2m will utilise the ‘Cambridge Kerb’. Trees will be planted beside the cycleway. On the southern side the tree grills protrude into the cycleway by what appears to be 50cm. On the southern side there will be a floating bus stop and the cycleway will continue behind a section of car-parking (separated from road traffic). The cycleways end before the Cambridge Water site and merge into 3.5m shared-use paths which continue until the Peterhouse Business Park.
From the Peterhouse Business Park to Yarrow Road the 3.5m shared-use path continues on the northern side. A pedestrian and cyclist crossing will be provided to allow crossing to the Business Park where an on-road cycleway is proposed. The paths leading to Mallets Road and Harebell Close will be widened to 3m. A speed limit reduction to 30mph along this route is also proposed.
Roxanne De Beaux