The following question was asked at the Greater Cambridge Partnership Executive meeting on 17th March 2021
In relation to Agenda Item 7, City Access Strategy Recommendations, Part (b) ‘Agree to prioritise road space for sustainable transport and make it a more competitive choice, by discouraging car use through..’
It is very encouraging to see all the hard work going on through the GCP Agenda and Reports, but I would contest that Cambridge is the cycling city that people imagine but rather a car drivers city and the people who cycle do so despite the cars
For most days of the week the East end of Arbury Road is choked with idling traffic waiting to turn on to Milton Road
Now as my children return to school, two on bicycles and one on foot, one still affected by long Covid symptoms there is traffic queuing as far as the eye can see from my house, the road effectively blocked for cyclists.
We are being encouraged to take up active travel, but I worry about the quality of the air we breathe in, as well as the safety aspect. This is especially awful to see at school time, this road is heavily used for active travel by people of all ages. But at school times it is the parents with young children and babies in trailers, or the children and students themselves who must either sit in the traffic queue and breathe in the fumes, retreat to the pavement or get off and wheel their bikes
The abrupt ending of the protective cycle lane just after North Cambridge Academy does a disservice to all the people who ride bikes as a method of travel. It really says, ‘ok you’re on your own now, good luck!’
When will the Arbury Road cycle lanes be completed all the way down to Milton Road? It makes no sense as a safe cycling route otherwise and I have seen data to show that it is very heavily used by cyclists