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Segregated cycleway is a good “first step”, say campaigners

7 Apr 2014 Cambridge infrastructure
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Plans to build new segregated cycleways on two busy Cambridge roads have received a thumbs-up from the local cycling campaign.

Cambridgeshire County Council is proposing new, Dutch-style segregated lanes on Hills Road and Huntingdon Road. Hills Road would have a dedicated cycleway on each side between Cherry Hinton Road and Queen Edith’s Way/Long Road. Huntingdon Road would only get the full segregated treatment in the city-bound direction, with the council citing budget constraints as the reason for not putting one in on both sides.

Cambridge Cycling Campaign says that the plans are the best they’ve yet seen in the city.

We think the proposals represent a step-change in approaching cycle infrastructure in Cambridge, and a necessary start to tackling the barrier that main roads pose to increased and safe cycling. We commend the officers on the work put into the proposals, and look forward to more high-quality, segregated schemes as part of the Cambridge City Deal.”

However, they point out that the junctions will still be far from ideal, and that Huntingdon Road should have a cycle lane in each direction.

“We view the proposals as a first step. The success of the aim to get more people cycling, particularly those are not confident among traffic, will be dependent on the junctions which connect routes, and those are not within the scope of the plans. Huntingdon Road will be incomplete until it has an outbound cycle lane of the same high quality proposed for the inbound lane. The County must make a clear statement of intention to improve the junctions in future.”

The consultation on the improvements closes today.

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