This article was published in 2000, in Newsletter 32.
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| The devil is in the detail: lane lines are yet to be marked on this approach to Trumpington High Street from Shelford Road. |
By the time you read this, the first stage of these works should be completed.
These changes, in part funded by the new Waitrose store, will include new traffic lights with a Toucan crossing, and one way ‘plugs’ for cars in Church Lane and Maris Lane (Newsletter 30). There is some concern that the Campaign was not consulted about some of the changes funded by development money, and we await with interest the details of approach lanes and advance stop lines at two junctions. The provision of cycle lanes in the High Street is to be welcomed. It will greatly assist those who cycle past the inside of stationary traffic queues at peak times, making their actions clearly legal. It should also encourage less confident cyclists to use the road where there is no shared use path.
The changes on the routes from Grantchester are designed to reduce ‘rat running’ and the introduction of adaptive traffic lights controlled by SCOOT™ may well reduce congestion and pollution in this area (see www.scoot-utc.com). The second stage, which includes bus lanes and further improvements to facilities for cyclists, will come next year, and the Campaign will do its utmost to ensure that bus lane improvements do not disadvantage cyclists. Many respondents to the consultation about these changes asked for new ‘away from road’ cycle routes. Now that the University Press developments can provide a route from Long Road to Hills Road along the old railway line, there seems little reason not to construct a pleasant traffic free cycle route all the way from Trumpington. It is unclear at what stage the Park and Ride site will be constructed, but the current proposals include the serious obstruction for cyclists of a high-speed left turn lane approaching from Harston.
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| Motorists do not respect the advisory cycle lanes in Maris lane, approaching the High Street. | At the Church Lane – High Street junction, the right turn lane for cyclists, still under construction here, is plenty wide enough. |
Jim Chisholm