Safety upgrades part of cycling projects out to consultation

Safer journeys are at the centre of new proposals that aim to improve walking and cycling in Cambridge.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership is consulting on plans to improve a section of Hills Road and the Addenbrooke’s roundabout as part of its Cycling Plus project.

More than 1200 people have already responded to the two consultations so far – with the feedback to date emphasising the need to improve safety as part of the schemes.

Paul Van de Bulk, Project Manager for the Greater Cambridge Partnership, said:

“We’ve put forward two schemes that aim to make it safer and easier to walk and cycle along the busy Hills Road and to get around Addenbrooke’s roundabout.

“These projects were identified from our Cycling Plus consultation held in 2021 and address the public’s priorities for improving walking and cycling links in the city. I encourage people to view the proposals and share their views before the consultations close at midday on 24 July.”

Hills Road

The GCP has put forward two options to enhance junctions and active travel paths on Hills Road from Purbeck Road junction to the Lensfield Road to make it easier and safer to walk or cycle to work, education or to access key services and Cambridge Station.

Evidence shows personal injury accidents are concentrated at the junctions along Hills Road, with the highest concentrations at the Lensfield Road, Brooklands Avenue and Cherry Hinton Road junctions.

The designs put forward in the consultation look to improve safety by redesigning the main signal-controlled junctions and side road junctions to provide enhanced priority and segregation for pedestrians and cyclists.

New safety measures put forward include the potential addition of continuous crossways of side roads for safer walking, wider and extended cycle lanes, floating bus stops and in one of the options, full or partial CYCLOPS junctions at Station Road/Cherry Hinton Road.

The addition of ‘Cambridge kerbs’ are also proposed to make it safer for cyclists to use cycle lanes along the route, and there could be an ‘all-movement exit’ for cyclists from Brookgate and a ‘hold the left turn’ cycle facility on Hills Road. A new Toucan signal-controlled crossing at the Purbeck Road junction near Hills Road Sixth Form College has also been put forward.

To prevent cycle lanes being blocked by vans along the route, new loading bays could also be created off Hills Road and new cycle parking facilities installed.

Dr Emma Boland, a parent who regularly cycles along Hills Road, said:

"Hills Road is a scary place to cycle or walk with children during rush hour. Junctions are often completely blocked by cars, making it very unsafe to cross over."

Addenbrooke’s roundabout

Proposals to significantly redesign the busy Addenbrooke’s roundabout are also out to the public for comment.

The GCP has put forward designs which include significantly wider cycle lanes and footpaths on both sides of the Fendon Road arm of the roundabout to make it safer and easier to walk and cycle.

The central island would be reduced in size to accommodate the upgraded active travel links while retaining the width of the lanes in the road for motorised vehicles, with the roundabout regularly used at all times by the emergency services.

There are also proposals to replace the staggered two-stage crossing on Babraham Road with a single-stage crossing, to further improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

The proposals have been fast-tracked by the GCP with additional funding provided by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA). Further upgrades to other arms of the roundabout could follow in the future.

The Cycling Plus Hills Road and Addenbrooke’s Roundabout consultations will both close at midday on Monday 24 July.

The final public meeting about the Hills Road consultation will be held via Microsoft Teams on Thursday 13 July between 6pm and 8pm.

Register for the public event and have your say on the proposals via the Consult Cambs website (link opens in new window).