Amanda Taylor

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Hills Road segregated cycleway work has started.

by admin on 27 January, 2015

Cambridgeshire County Council is starting to build new segregated and raised cycle lanes on Hills Road. The works are taking place off-peak between 930 and 330pm. The new cycleways are set to be completed in the autumn.

There will be cones and temporary traffic lights during these times to create a safe working area. Whenever possible a cycle lane will be kept open throughout the road works.

Some weekend closures of the side roads will also be necessary to enable the works to be carried out with the least disruption to motor traffic — but not until the spring. Here is a list of planned closures:Floating Bus stop leaflet_main page

Hills Rd closures

As part of the scheme, all the bus stops along this stretch will have new bus shelters.

Concerns have been raised recently about the amount of grass verge being lost, as well as the siting of the new bus stops. A group of Hills Road residents and I met the Cycling Team last week and discussed various issues.

For changes to the original scheme to address safety concerns, see my previous post here.

If you did not get to one of thepublic exhibitions showing the plans, here are some technical drawings of the road layouts, as displayed

Cycle lanes_C_5040001_HW_EL_012_REV G-2

Cycle lanes_C_5040001_HW_EL_011_REV G-3

Cycle lanes_C_5040001_HW_EL_010_REV G-5

   5 Comments

5 Responses

  1. Jennifer Brook says:

    Dear Amanda,

    I have been advised by one of my neighbours that the bus stop three houses from us is going to be moved to in front of our house. This does not appear in any of the consultation documents I have seen or in the information you have posted on your website for local residents and we have not been consulted directly about it either. A metal cabinet has also appeared in my hedge, a few weeks ago, on my land and nobody asked my permission for it. There is no name on it so I have been unable to pursue who is trespassing on my land. Also, no information provided to the residents about how they will have access to their drives during the work or, more importantly, when it is completed.
    I was informed by your colleague, Tim, before Christmas that the scheme had to go ahead because the money had been granted for it. This is ridiculous.
    As I stated in my objections (which according to your own website have been ignored, like most of the residents), I cycle down Hills Road and across town most days of the week and this is the most ridiculous waste of money ever conceived. It will be a blight on our streetscape and increase the hazards for cyclists and pedestrians. D
    How are you representing us?

    Jennifer Brook

    • Dear Jennifer

      Thank you for your comment. I am concerned to hear about the metal box on your land; this has happened to another resident on Hills Road. After making enquiries we discovered it is a control box to do with the cycle scheme, put there by the County Council’s contractor. In that case, the County is arguing that the land is public highway.

      The Council will be distributing a leaflet to residents very soon, but I will post some more information on my website.

      You asked about how I am representing you on this issue. I do not sit on the County Council committee (Economy & Environment) that deals with cycling schemes so did not get a vote on it directly although I have shared residents’ concerns with colleagues and officers, and the scheme was deferred first time round. I attended the committee to present residents’ views with regard to access and the ‘floating bus stops’. This resulted in some improvements – please see http://amandataylor.focusteam.org/2014/11/19/see-the-new-layout-for-hills-road-at-rock-road-library-tomorrow/#page-content.

      Would you like me to call to talk to you about the box? I am representing your neighbour who has a similar complaint.

  2. Wendy Blythe says:

    Amanda

    Since our previous discussions and correspondence I have again met with members of the Cambridge Cycleways/Skanska team.

    Their responses did not allay our concerns.

    On the question of the location of the boundary between our land and the highway ( which is marked on the plan ‘to be confirmed’) they did not provide any supporting evidence for their placing of the boundary. We are seeking legal advice on this.

    Having seen the detailed plans we find that the bus stop on our side of the road is being relocated to outside our house. At no stage has anyone drawn this to our attention, or that of our neighbours, who are also affected. Nor was it mentioned to us by the representatives of Cambridge Cycleways/Skanska when they visited the site on 17 December. We know from residents on the other side of the road who are affected by the relocation of the bus stop on their side that they were also not informed. Our understanding is that the relocation of bus stops requires planning approval, which presumably requires consultation with residents affected.

    On a more general point, as you know we and several of our neighbours are concerned by the loss of greenery arising from this scheme; 80% of the grass verges are to be lost. The plan shows a small verge being re-instated on the western side of the road between the pavement and the hedges/fences of the properties but nothing on our (eastern) side of the road, where the total width of grass verge is currently 2.8 metres. We believe there should also be a verge between the pavement and the hedges on the eastern side, and that great care must be taken not to damage trees and hedges.

    We look forward to hearing from you.

    Wendy Blythe

    • It was good to see you and talk about this again. I confirm that I will ask the cycling officers to visit and discuss how we can best preserve our grassy areas and plants. I will also be raising concerns about bus stops and shelters.

  3. A number of people have raised some specific concerns about the cycle lanes scheme.

    The Hills and Huntingdon Road cycle lanes project as a whole has been approved by the County Council, but some people in th stretch of Hills Road between Glebe and Holbrook Roads have raised some specific concerns, in short:

    encroachment onto land that is private garden, not public highway
    the amount of grass verge that will be retained
    positioning of bus stops and shelters

    I have requested Mr Mike Davies, the manager of the County Council Cycling Team, to come and talk to us, and he has agreed to come and meet us, with a representative of the contractor, at 5pm this Friday. Wendy and Peter Blythe at number 269 have kindly agreed to have us at their house, though I expect we shall need to go outside to look at the road itself, provided it doesn’t snow!

    I hope we will be able to resolve these issues, and look forward to seeing you again on Friday.

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