Campaigners support South Cambridge cycle route bid

A 50-strong group of cycle campaigners rode between Fen Ditton and Horningsea in South Cambridge to show support for a bid to create a new cycle route between the two villages. The project is one of several schemes competing to be built as part of the £7.2 million Cycle Cambridge initiative.

The Cycle Cambridge Team are proposing to improve the existing cycleway facilities between Fen Ditton and Horningsea, and the route will start at the High Street/Horningsea Road crossroads, continue to the A14 and then end at Biggin Lane. The foot and cycleway will be 2.5 metres wide in most areas.

Councillor Nick Clarke, who represents the villages on Cambridgeshire County Council, said the ride would be easier and safer if the new link was built, and hopes the route up would get more people cycling to school and a reduction in traffic. The county council, with the help of other authorities, are consulting on a big list of cycleway improvements in South Cambridge as part of the Cycle Cambridge initiative,

Families are being asked to give their views on the link in a series of public consultations organised in Fen Ditton and Horningsea to find out the views of local residents and businesses. County Council officers will attend them to discuss the schemes and answer questions.

Feedback from the public meetings will be used to help make the decision on which new routes get built. If the cycleway gets the green light, construction could start in November or December with work expected to take three months to complete.

The trip was one of a number of roadshows held for all of the competing schemes and followed on from a similar event in Horningsea which attracted 130 people. Other schemes include more cycle improvements and park and ride facilities.

Cambridge is renowned for its enthusiastic cyclists, with one in four residents said to cycle to work, and the city provides cycling maps, city locker hire and cycle parking, adult cycle training schemes and cycle hire.

To find out about all the projects and more information on the roadshows visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/projects/south