Yes, we considered different route options including:

bus lanes along the existing roads,
junction improvements along the A1303,
routes north of the A428/A1303 and
routes south of the A428/A1303.

All route options have been through a rigorous assessment process, which is explained here in more detail. Background documents on these options and their assessments are linked throughout the text.

Option assessments

We fully assessed alternative options as part of preparing the Outline Business Case for the scheme. These assessments conform with Department for Transport (DfT) Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG). A number of on-road options were assessed in detail but did not perform as well as the proposed scheme.

We considered both on and off-road routes as part of the option development. These options were compared in the Phase 1 Consultation undertaken in 2017/18.

As the scheme was developed towards the Outline Business Case stage, options were refined to an off-road option south of the existing A428/A1303. These options were substantially amended to reflect issues emerging from consultation. They now form the basis for the current preferred option.

Low-cost, on-road option

A low-cost alternative was also developed, as required by DfT guidance. This was based on on-road improvements and included:

minimal infrastructure changes west of Madingley Mulch roundabout and
sections of inbound bus lane between Madingley Mulch Roundabout and Lady Margaret Road to the east of the M11. Due to the constraints at the M11 Junction 13, the bus lane was not continuous and terminated before the bridge. Buses would join general traffic over the bridge, before re-joining a bus lane on the other side.

Option appraisal reports

Following the 2017/18 consultation, the Option Appraisal Report 1 was created, as part of the Outline Business Case. It recommended the best on-road and off-road alternative to be taken forward for further consideration. These alternatives were based on the schemes taken to consultation.

The on-road and off-road options were then assessed further in Option Appraisal Report 2. It concluded that an off-road option for Phase 1 was better performing.

The GCP Executive Board noted in December 2018 that the proposed off-road option best meets the strategic and policy objectives of the Greater Cambridge Partnership.

Independent audit

An Independent Audit was undertaken in 2021. It confirmed there has been proper consideration of alternative options. These include various alternatives and iterations put forward by stakeholders throughout the life of the scheme since 2014.

The independent review acknowledges:

a robust appraisal process and
that ‘the process has included extensive consultations with stakeholders and affected parties.
The preferred option has taken these views into account and
proposed mitigation measures where negative impacts are identified.’

See more on the independent audit here.

Other options

Alternative stakeholder options have also been extensively considered and discussed to further evidence full consideration of options.

Cambourne to Cambridge Local Liaison Forum group: significant correspondence and evidence of meetings about alternatives proposed by the group has been published online - Cambourne to Cambridge: LLF (greatercambridge.org.uk).

Northern alignments and on-road quick wins: evidence of previous assessment of northern alignments and on-road “quick wins” was presented in two Technical notes published in 2019 - Cambourne to Cambridge: background (greatercambridge.org.uk). These notes highlight limitations in effective and deliverable short-term solutions. This is due to:

building congestion on the highway,
the impacts of significant disruption from any works and required boundary land-take, leading to likely objection,
protracted process and
longer delivery times.

The planning process has advanced, having discounted workable and viable alternatives to progress with modelling, further assessment and ultimately present the proposed scheme as set out in March 2023, in line with DfT guidance and process. Full assessment detail is reported in the Outline Business Case.

The Cambridge Past, Present and Future (CPPF) 2021 proposal

The CPPF 2021 proposal was submitted to the Independent Audit in March 2021.

The CPPF option comprises some modest sections of inbound bus lanes and junction improvements. It does not provide a Cambourne to Cambridge scheme.

The project team carried out a high-level review of the CPPF report at the time.  The report’s author stated that the report proposed a “package of quick-win interventions to the Greater Cambridge Partnership and Combined Authority as an effective and low-cost interim solution whilst details of longer-term infrastructure schemes, such as East West Rail, the CAM network and the Girton Interchange, are worked out”. The alignment of East West Rail (EWR) is to be confirmed but would not directly serve the growing Bourn Airfield community and West Cambridge site. The CAM network has been cancelled and Girton Interchange upgrade has never been proposed by National Highways. Had the CAM been delivered, as the CPPF report assumed, then it would have provided a fully segregated off-line route for the Cambourne to Cambridge corridor. As such, a quick win package was never intended to, and therefore cannot, assure the future growth of the Cambourne to Cambridge corridor.  The delivery of Cambourne West, Bourn Airfield and West Cambridge developments cannot be achieved with this short-term package of proposals predicated on the assumption that an off-road route for Cambourne to Cambridge (whether or not the GCP proposal) was to be provided. This position was supported by the Independent Audit which concluded that a short-term alternative “does not invalidate the assumptions and constraints for the preferred option as a long-term solution to meet the growth in travel demand along the corridor”.

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