Greater Cambridge Partnership agrees to re-route Fulbourn Greenway along Mill Road

A new active travel route that will allow people to walk and cycle between Fulbourn and Cambridge is now set to go along Mill Road.

The third phase of the Fulbourn Greenway had been planned to follow a different route as Mill Road had been considered “inappropriate” due to the high levels of traffic.

Now a bus gate has been installed on Mill Road bridge, limiting the amount of through traffic, the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s executive board has agreed to realign the third phase to take advantage of this.

The GCP project aims to create a 150km network of 12 greenways which people can use to walk and cycle from the villages around Cambridge into the city.

The 5.5km Fulbourn route will link the village to central Cambridge – and construction of the first phase is due to begin later this year.

Improvement work to Mill Road to make it part of the greenway could include pavement widening, continuous footways, and improvements to the areas of public open space with new plants.

The report said £601,466 would be allocated to this work.

The board also agreed to work with partner authorities to look at possible options to make improvements along the entire length of Mill Road, not just the part within the greenway, after a request was made by the GCP’s joint assembly.

Cllr Mike Davey, board member and Labour leader of Cambridge City Council, said he welcomed the change adding that the move “makes a whole heap of sense”.

Cllr Elisa Meschini, Labour chair of the board and deputy leader of the county council, pictured, supported the idea of looking at the entirety of Mill Road, but said other authorities would also need to contribute.

She said: “It would be very easy for us to run out of money very quickly if we were going to do everything that is a good idea... and this is a good idea.

“It is my hope that the constituent authorities will work together to make sure that we all contribute the way that we should to something that is in the common good.

“The GCP will be absolutely working with partners to make sure that we contribute and that Mill Road becomes a good part of our network in its entirety, not just the bit that takes us to the station. At the same time we will not be able to fund everything ourselves.”