Manual for Streets update
The updated Manual for Streets is to be published on 1 July 2022.
Issues
This section lists issues - problems on the street network and related matters.
Issues always relate to some geographical location, whether very local or perhaps city-wide.
You can create a new issue using the button on the right.
Listed issues, most recent first:
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Fanshawe Road new development. 44 Homes
Proposals for a new development on Fanshaw Road have been approved. A planning application is pending.
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22/02520/FUL | Installation of 11 sculptures and 5 benches (temporary)
Proposed temporary installation of art structures than in some cases will create conflict and cause narrowing at certain points in the Cam tow path towards Waterbeach.
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Fen Rivers Way north of Bottisham Lock
Google Maps suggests that Fen Rivers Way from Bottisham Lock to the A1123 is cyclable. It isn't.
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Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 schemes (2022)
Cambridgeshire County Council, June 2022 (their web page): "A programme of Active Travel (Tranche 2) projects, to encourage walking and cycling across Cambridgeshire, is set to be delivered in the next few months. The Tranche 2 schemes will be installed on a temporary basis for up to 18 months."
The first part of the Tranche 2 delivery programme, to be delivered between June and August, includes the following active travel schemes (heavily summarised):
- Cambridge:
- Church Street, Chesterton - modal filter
- Cowley Road - new bidirectional wand-protected cycle lane
- East Road - wand-protected cycle lanes east of Burleigh St, by reducing traffic lanes
- Silver St / King's Parade - make previous temporary priority change permanent
- Trumpington St / Lensfield Rd / Fen Causeway mini-roundabouts - some wand-protected space for cyclists, etc
- Bassingbourn: Brook Road and High Street - speed reduction and traffic calming
- Huntingdon: Ambury Road, southern section - contra-flow cycle lane
- Wisbech: cycle lockers in Bus Station area
(And also some cycle parking around the county, in Buckden, Cottenham, Ely, Haddenham, Huntingdon, Little Thetford, Littleport, Melbourn, Mepal, Ramsey, St Ives, St Neots, Stretham, Whittlesey, Wisbech, and Witcham.)
- Cambridge:
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Beehive Centre redevelopment
In June 2022 the owners of the Beehive Centre are holding a consultation on the "redevelopment of the Beehive Centre and the land surrounding the site"
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70 new postgraduate apartments plus refurb, Newnham | 22/02066/FUL
Demolition of nursery building, part of outbuildings; partial demolition, refurbishment and extension of other existing college buildings and the erection of four accommodation blocks containing 60 rooms for postgraduate students; associated landscaping, car and cycle parking, refuse and other storage and new electricity substation within outbuildings. | Owlstone Croft Owlstone Road Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 9JJ
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garage conversion but no cycle parking, Highworth Avenue | 22/02020HFUL
Infill of existing carport area and garage conversion to create home office/guest accomodation. | 51A Highworth Avenue Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB4 2BQ
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7 New Dwellings Adjacent to 'The Ship' Public House | 22/01938/FUL
Residential development containing seven dwellings along with access, car parking, landscaping and associated infrastructure
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3 new dwellings on existing boat yard, 70 Water Street Cambridge | 22/02008/FUL
Erection of 3 dwellings following the partial demolition of the existing outbuildings. | 70 Water Street Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB4 1PA
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Padlocked Gates
Following forest trails north from Glentrool leads to a gate with a wayfinder with an arrow pointing directly ahead. The gate ahead is locked shut with a bike lock. Two more gates were locked in this way in the next 400m along the trail, blocking access to the no.7 cycle route from this end of the forest.
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6 new dwellings, High street Cherry Hinton | 22/01638/FUL
Erection of 6no (1 and 2bed) dwellings with associated infrastructure following demolition of existing dwelling. | 72 High Street Cherry Hinton Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB1 9HZ
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Conversion of Guest House to HMO on Mowbray Road, Queen Edith | 22/01946/FUL
Change of use from Guest House to large 12bed House in Multiple Occupation (Sui Generis Use Class)
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New Offices at Cheddars Lane, near Tesco Superstore | 22/01825/FUL
Erection of office building and associated infrastructure and works following demolition of existing buildings and structures
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22/01995/FUL | 70 new homes and associated works
22/01995/FUL | Demolition of existing buildings and hardstanding and erection of 70 new homes, car parking, landscaping, bin and bike stores, substation and associated works.
cycle parking provision grouped to 3 areas quite close to the doors. Cycle parking provision needs checking.
Also the site provides several cut throughs, they should be improved and enhanced. Probably worth a deeper look.
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22/01760/FUL | Single storey rear extension to create 1no 2bed dwelling
Application for new property. The design and access state claims compliance with Policy 82 parking standards but no cycle parking has been indicated on the plans.
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22/01760/FUL | Single storey rear extension to create 1no 2bed dwelling
Creation of new property in which the Design and Access statement claims compliance with policy 82. However no cycle parking in indicated on the plan.
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Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee
The Strategy and Resources Committee consists of six councillors who scrutinise the decisions of the Leader/Executive Councillor for Strategy and External Partnerships and the Executive Councillor Finance and Resources.
More Information
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Council meetings
All 42 members of the city council meet formally at least five times a year. Their main responsibilities are setting the budget and policy framework for decision making.
More Information
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Scout Hut Path - Corrie Road / Rustat Road link
Scout Hut Path is an important link between the Carter Bridge and the Corrie Road neighbourhood. It is narrow and marred by a sharp blind bend in the middle, making it difficult to use for many people especially at night due to personal security and collision concerns.
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Merlin Place – North East Cambridge
A developer called Kadans Science Partner is proposing to redevelop the Merlin Place site (currently home to the Taylor Vinters building) as part of the North East Cambridge scheme.
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Removing exclusionary barriers across Cambridgeshire
Camcycle's time and energy is consistently taken up removing exclusionary barriers (e.g. Biomedical Campus, A14 active travel bridges, Warren Road). We need to consider long-term ways to prevent new barriers going in and remove existing ones which prevent people of all ages and abilities cycling.
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Ravelston Dykes access to Roseburn Path
Dropped kerb required due to high pavement
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Romsey Labour Club - Mill Road (2022)
There have been issues with the cycle parking in the past so this need examining again.
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Private? farm roads
I'm new here, so this has probably been done before, but I haven't sussed out how to find any relevant previous discussion using the search. So sorry if this is repetition.
There are lots of farm roads around Cambridge, some of which have locked gates and "bicycles by written permission only" notices, others are signed as permissive routes, others have no signs but in practice nobody actually shouts at you as you cycle through what turns out to be a farmyard.
Are there any resources that enable us to work out in advance, before discovering the sign and the locked gate, which of these roads are passable by bike, with possibly a rather long route home if the answer is "no"?
Just as an example, how about Battle Gate Road?
This map shows all issues, whether points, routes, or areas:
The most popular issues, based on the number of votes:
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Pinch point created by pedestrian crossing
The current layout of the pedestrian crossing at the junction of Winchester road and Vermont close forces cyclists out of the cycle lane and into the flow of traffic. This is a risky maneuver and relies on the patience of the car driver behind the cyclist. A possible solution would be to be extend the cycle lane through the chicane, with give way markings so that pedestrians have right of way.
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Dangerous section of cycle path outside Dominos Pizza on the Avenue
Southampton Cycling Campaign has received many reports of local cyclists having accidents on the cycle path outside the Dominos Pizza outlet at the southern end of The Avenue.
A recent incident was reported in the Southampton Echo, http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/10475081.Cyclist_hurt_in_road_crash/
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Dogs Head Street cycle contraflow lane parking/loading bay
There is a loading bay in the cycle contraflow cycle lane, which means that the cycle lane is blocked for cyclists as soon as a vehicle is parked there. This means that cyclists have to pull out into the path of oncoming buses, thus making the NCN route unsuitable to young children or inexperienced cyclists.
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Tandem carriage on Scotrail trains
We have a tandem which fits in all the spaces on trains in Scotland (as far as I know), but we are prohibited from taking it on any except the East Coast line trains. I've been writing to various officials - elected and otherwise - and contributed to the recent review of the Scotrail franchise, but am not getting much joy. No one seems to think it is a big deal. But, for my family, with 2 kids aged 5 and 1, and no car, if we don't go by tandem and train, we can't go anywhere much. The tandem is not a luxury but a practical transport solution. Does anyone else want to join in and make this more than a one-woman issue?
(another related issue: even once the kids can ride their own bikes, we won't be able to use trains much since most only allow 2 reservations).
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Grey Street
Redesign of Grey Street to remove the danger of cars reversing (blind) out parking bays into middle of the road.
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St Peters Dock lethal rail tracks
Disused railway tracks on St Peters Dock provide short section of road surface that is dangerous to traverse from East to West by bike.
If you are avoiding crossing the tracks then you are forced into oncoming traffic.
If you cross the tracks, you are then potentially trapped between parked cars and the railway tracks, which can be dangerous.
The tracks are very slippery when wet or icy, and sections are often hidden underwater because there is poor drainage after heavy rain.
Ideally the tracks are totally removed, or the surface covered with concrete or tarmac.
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Cycling on A2
The A2 is a hostile environment for cycling. Cyclists should be directed away from using the A2 towards existing safe alternatives (e.g. RCR16) and the current A2 cycle signs should be removed.
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Clerkenwell Boulevard
Here is an ambitious plan for a Bicycle Boulevard from Shoreditch to Fitzrovia, along Old Street, Clerkenwell Road and Theobalds Road, open only to bicycles, buses and motor traffic for local access only.
a. It is now the most cycled route in London, showing that it is the desired EW route.
b. It is of variable width, therefore trying to accommodate bikes, buses, and through traffic in a consistent and safe way is impossible. In other words, a compromise will be a botch job.
c. There will not be mixing of buses and bicycles: bicycles will have a dedicated two way cycle lane on the South side of the street.
d. The Boulevard stops being a mega- EW-rat-run. Motor traffic will have to use Pentonville/City Road.More details here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yw9mkHhGZaVBKYJs6FxyhC1Z4nNYVl-IFH-aR1ScK9U/pub?start=false#slide=id.p
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Chisholm Trail
Proposed route along the rail corridor through Cambridge, part of which is in the Cambridge Local Plan.
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North Meadow Walk - NMW
Surface, drainage and width issues.
Planned for upgrade as part of CEC 'family network'
No details/dates.
Was an issue 5 years ago (and before)
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Safer Walking and Cycling between NW Cambridge and Girton
Our campaign for safer walking and cycling to/from NWCambridge now has a petition and a first video (of five) summarising our position.
See our new video summarising our petition:
https://youtu.be/hIlQAzsU0js?t=1sI’d be delighted if you could promote this to your networks. Time is of the essence because a Senate House discussion is coming up [3 Nov 2015], and I will report the number of signatures on our petition there. (But signatures after the date will still be useful.)
More information:
http://tinyurl.com/EddingtonSafetyThe petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/EddingtonSafetyAnyone is welcome to sign the petition; we ask people to use the Comment field to let us know if they are University Member / University employee / City resident / SouthCambs resident / etc.
For twitter purposes the recommended hashtag is #EddingtonSafety and there is an @EddingtonSafety account too.
Thanks very much
David
David J C MacKay FRS
djcm1@cam.ac.ukRegius Professor of Engineering,
Cambridge University Engineering DepartmentAuthor of “Sustainable Energy - without the hot air” www.withouthotair.com
and “Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms” www.inference.eng.cam.ac.uk/mackay/Girton resident and parent.
Cambridge Cycling Campaign Member -
Tower Bridge road surface problem
Six inch high ridge near left side of north bound lane on the south side of the bridge forces cyclists too close to the kerb or into the path of motor vehicles. Issue reported via CTC pothole reporting site. Resurfacing required.
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NCN route 11 and the Waterbeach Gap
I've visited Riverside to Waterbeach with William Rayner of county cycling team. He's revising signage here and providing it along the St Ives corridor, with the old NCN 51 being renamed Regional Route 24 (blue patch). We've decided finally to continue to sign NCN 11 from Riverside Bridge to Waterbeach Station, and he's looking at suitable (hopefully temporary) wording to advise to follow NCN 51 to Bottisham for destinations beyond Waterbeach, which will hopefully eliminate misrouting those from outside the area.
Our inspection of existing signs showed that only one new signboard was provided on completion 5 years ago of Riverside Bridge. Signboards still send people via Green Dragon. Sustrans considers signage is an important part of any route project.
The intention is to sign Milton Country Park as a destination, not as part of the route, removing route signs within the park, and probably retaining Coles Road as the signed route through the village, though it would be much preferable to have improvements past the shops and the village green, pubs etc.
Retaining the route to Waterbeach as NCN will help keep the gap in people's awareness.
I am planning to contact again the landowner of the missing link between Bottisham Lock and Fen Road, Lode with a suggestion for a low-level route, southeast side of the Bottisham Lode floodbank which is the route of the public footpath, where signs forbid cycling. It might be considered more visually acceptable. All parish councils are for the route, including the one of which he is a member.
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Wandle path bypass for Earlsfield
Garratt Lane at Earlsfield station sucks massively for cyclists, and is a jarring interruption to the Wandle Trail (Sustrans route 20). It would be great to extend the riverside path underneath the railway to avoid this dangerous stretch of road.
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Lack of safe room for cycles, terrible road surface
While some painted "cycle lane" does exist northbound, there is woefully little provision for cyclists considering the huge number that use this section of road each day, a large number of whom are those who work at the General Hospital and other nearby health centres. Southbound cyclists have no real provision of space at all, save a graduated stopline, where cars turning right often try to pass right-turning cycles on the inside. Dale road itself is extremely narrow by winchester road, with almost no pavement space for pedestrians.
Cyclists heading northbound on Winchester road must beat traffic off the line at Dale road to get to the painted centre of Winchester road. North of the traffic light at The Range, the cycle lane is almost non-existent, placing cyclists between 2 lanes of heavy traffic, and cyclists have to stop and wait in this dangerous area in order to turn right onto Wilton road. Furthermore, the road surface, especially at this part of Winchester road, is currently deplorable. -
A14 very hostile for cycling
The A14 is a very hostile, dangerous road for cycling.
Improvements to it, as well as broader changes to the national framework for cyclist crossings of major roads, are needed.
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Lack of cycle routes to Cambridge Business Park, Waterbeach
My employer is planning to relocate from central cambridge to the Cambridge Business Park (near Waterbeach). There is currently no decent cycle (or footpath!) access to this business park which avoids riding along the A10. I am a confident cyclist but I am not looking forward to riding to work along sections of the A10.
Are there any plans for cycle route construction which the campaign can, perhaps, help accelerate?
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Replace Hooper Street gates with bollard
The permeability gate between Hooper Street and Kingston Street is obstructive as it only allows passage in one direction at a time.
Given the ever-increasing amount of cycling in areas like this, it's time to get this replaced with a simple bollard arrangement that would allow two-way passage whilst still enable the emergency services to unlock for access in an emergency.
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A41 Divides Guilden Sutton from Chester - better crossing needed
The A41 ring road cuts across a useful quiet route north-west out of Chester, which is an alternative to the traffic-free Greenway (which is unlit, and slippery in icy conditions). Crossing the A41 during busy periods - e.g. when commuting at rush-hour - can be a slow and potentially very dangerous process, especially after dark. A better crossing for cyclists and pedestrians, or a lower speed limit on the A41 (or both), would be very helpful here.
[Original version of map was wrong; I've now updated it.] -
Ommision of lights creates danger on cyclepath
The cycle path crosses the soutbound exit from the M53 at Cheshire Oaks. The exit is light controlled for traffic as they enter the roundabout. This provides a safe time for cyclists to ride across the sliproad. However the lights are not visible to cyclist on the path and there is no light provided to advise cyclists when they can cross.
This makes it very difficult and dangerous for cyclists to know when they can safely cross. This would require no physical change to the road layout simply a new light to show cyclists when to cross.
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Reach Fair Ride
The Reach Fair ride takes place on the early Bank Holiday Monday (May Day) in May.
The web page for it is:
http://www.camcycle.org.uk/events/rides/The planning overview is summarised:
http://www.camcycle.org.uk/events/rides/timeline.htmlI've created this issue to help plan this event.
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Cycle Superhighway 1 consultation (CS1)
Transport for London's public consultation on Cycle Superhighway 1 is open from 16 February to 29 March. The LCC office has set up this thread to facilitate discussion of the proposals.
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Brook Hill Roundabout
Brook Hill roundabout is a major barrier for cyclists in West Sheffield. The traffic is fast and as it is a three-lane spiral roundabout with the exit roads (except Bolsover St) having two lanes there is a lot of lane-switching by motorists. This makes the risk of a collision very high, and for less experienced cyclists it is simply a no-go area.
Many of the buildings adjacent to the roundabout belong to the University, and have been built up to the curtilage, so there is no space to expand the pavements and make them shared use.
One alternative for cyclists coming from the Walkley/Crookes area via Bolsover St is to use Tower Court, but this area can be very congested when the University is in session, with several thousand students using the Arts Tower and Library.
The council has signed an alternative route via Weston St and the Netherthorpe Rd tram subway, but this involves a drop in height of about 100 metres and subsequent climb up again, plus the negotiation of access barriers in the subway, so is not really sensible.
Meanwhile on Upper Hanover Way, a cycle crossing was severed when the tramway was installed, although cyclists still use the crossing. A proposed alternative crossing is stalled as it is too expensive.
What can be done about this knotty problem?
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Dangerous to cross Milton Road diagonally at Toucan crossing
As the bridleway crosses Milton Road, it swaps sides of the busway, so most pedestrians and cyclists want to cross diagonally. However the toucan crossing only protects people crossing Milton Road. It doesn't stop busway traffic.
This is confusing and dangerous. When the road traffic stops at red lights, and the Toucan crossing turns green, it feels very safe to cross the busway. Yet buses can come from three directions (busway west, busway east, Milton Road south) at speeds of 30 mph.
Cyclists in particular are tempted to cross diagonally from north west to south east. Last week I saw a near accident.
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Prince St Bridge - Quick Fix
Prince St bridge is an anarchic pigs ear. I like pigs and fond of a bit of anarchy but it's getting beyond a joke. Of course it will all be sorted out properly in due course but we could live with this for years. Here's a quick fix:
SOUTH
1. Move south vehicle stop line back 10m behind tramlines
2. Remove all bollards unless one or two kept in line with centre of bridge with arrows right for cars
3. Widen cycle lane from bridge to Festival way turn so suitable for 2-way cycling.
4. Put in Give Way painted line at an angle running from enlarged cycle lane to centre line so southbound cyclists alerted to need to filter across traffic.NORTH
1. Remove all bollards
2. Widen cycle lane for 2 way cycling all the way up to the traffic lights with The Grove.
3. Remove 5 bollards on each side of north bound traffic light along with the two set back
4. Paint cycle lane passing behind light and then back onto carriageway making it nice and clear that it's an option for cyclists when lights red or they can carry on (as most will, no worse than now but at least it will be clear that they can treat these as 'give way')
5. There will need to be 'give way' paint to make clear that pedestrians have right of way on the by-pass.Yes it's muddled but less so than now and makes the desire lines easier. It's also a cheap paint based fix pending the proper job.