Steps to deliver the next stage of the flagship Chisholm Trail walking and cycling project have been set out by the Greater Cambridge Partnership.

Phase one of the trail has been widely celebrated by the community since it was opened in 2021, with an estimated 11,000 cycle trips and more than 3,900 pedestrian trips taken on it every week.

Phase two of the Chisholm Trail would run from Cambridge Station to Coldham’s Lane where it would link up with phase one of the scheme – creating a first-class, mostly off-road walking and cycling route across the city to Cambridge North station via the Abbey Chesterton Bridge.

The GCP has reached an agreement in principle with Network Rail and Greater Anglia for the Cavendish Road to Clifton Road section of the proposed route.

Subject to approval from the GCP’s executive board, public engagement on the section of the route at Great Eastern carpark and Cromwell Road will be carried out in partnership with Cambridge City Council.

A report on the Cambridge south west travel hub – which aims to take thousands of cars off the M11 at junction 11 and provide people with more options in the way they travel in and out of the city – is also included in reports to the joint assembly which meets on 16 October.

A planning application for the travel hub was approved by Cambridgeshire County Council in July 2022. Since then, the GCP has procured the land and carried out detailed design work.

Members will be asked to agree to a phased delivery of the scheme, with work expected to begin in 2025.

Once complete, the travel hub will enable people to leave their cars outside of the city and continue their onward journeys on public transport services and new walking and cycling links to help cut congestion and improve air quality.

To read the papers to the joint assembly, which have been published today, visit Cambridgeshire County Council’s website.