Just 2 weeks till work begins for major new Cambridge cycleway

Work will begin in two weeks’ time on a new cycleway on the Hills Road in Cambridge.

The major new scheme will include safer crossings at Addenbrooke’s roundabout and the junction of Hills Road, Long Road and Queen Edith’s Way, and two new bus stops, along with nearly 700m of dedicated inbound and outbound raised cycle lanes.

The works will create some disruption, and Transport officers for the Greater Cambridge City Deal will be informing local residents.

This will include an outbound road closure, between Long Road and the Addenbrooke’s roundabout.

Works will be complete in September, according to the plans.

The upgrade follows the news earlier this year that thousands more cyclists are using two busy Cambridge roads per day since protected cycle routes were constructed, with numbers doubling on one route since 2013.

Hills Road and Huntingdon Road, both main routes connecting Cambridge city centre with residential and employment areas, saw a 38 and 100 per cent increase, respectively, with more than 3,000 more cycle journeys per day between them.

The two routes, with stepped and kerb-protected cycle tracks, were paid for with Cycle City Ambition Fund money, awarded by the coalition government in 2013. Cambridge was originally awarded £4 million, before the figure was increased to £10.1m.

In May 2013 2,339 cyclists used Hills Road in both directions. Over four days in October 2016 18,736 users were counted, or 4,684 per day. In November 2013 1,902 cyclists were recorded using Huntingdon Road; in November 2016 an average of 2,632 people per day were counted cycling along the route over a three day period.

Cambridge City Council set a target of 40 per cent of all journeys by bike by 2023. Currently 25 per cent of trips are by bike.