We are in the middle of the latest phase of construction on the busy Hills Road Bridge in Cambridge — a route used by thousands of cyclists every day as well as thousands of pedestrians and motorists. Several people have asked me what is going on, particularly as there is frequently no activity taking place. It is scheduled to go on till Christmas!

The County Council Highways Department is creating new on-road cycle lanes as part of a project to provide a link to the station from Hills Road for people on bikes, walking, or public transport, the Cambridge Gateway — a £3 million pound scheme funded by developers. The cycle lanes are to go down the middle of the road, not at the edges as normal.You can see a plan of what it will be like here.

I am always pleased to see projects making cycling safer but I have my doubts about cycling in the middle in this way. It looks intimidating, particularly for less confident cyclists, or people cycling with children — who may be confident but not necessarily very competent! When the Council did a trial last year, the cycle lanes were not in the middle of the road like this and it seems perverse to do one thing in a trial but implement something quite different.

We will all be pleased to see the completion of the works, not least the sixth-form college students, who have to walk in the road.

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