Mill Road for People backs radical change to Cambridge’s road network
A group representing environmental concerns on Mill Road in Cambridge say that “radical changes” are needed to make Cambridge healthier and meet climate targets.
Mill Road for People says the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s consultation on a new road classification for the city is “extremely important” and “has the potential to transform our city for the better”.
The review also offers the chance to change how people move around the city, including the potential to reallocate more road space from private vehicles to buses and ‘active travel’ – meaning cycling and walking.
Members of the public have eight weeks to have a say on the proposals.
Under the proposals, the principal distributor network would be made up of the main arterial roads and the designated ring road within the city linking to the M11 and A14. These roads would generally be subject to a speed limit of 30mph or 20mph where the road width or layout would warrant a lower limit.
There would then be a network of ‘area access streets’ and ‘local access streets’ giving access to and from large areas of the city.
We have created an interactive map of the proposals - click on one of the colour-coded roads and a panel will pop up showing the proposals for it.
Through vehicle movements would be banned on these roads other than on public transport and via active travel. These roads would “generally be subject to a speed limit of 20mph”.
The final two sets of roads designated in the consultation are ‘civic streets’ within the city centre – where motor vehicle access would be limited to essential residential and servicing needs and those with limited mobility, often managed by time of day – and ‘neighbourhood streets’, where through movements to the wider road network would only be allowed by walking and cycling.
Mill Road – controversially closed to private motor vehicles for a trial period last year – is named as a potential bus route serving the city centre. Others include Hills Road, Newmarket Road, Victoria Avenue, Bridge Street and Jesus Lane, of which several have bus gates already installed.
A spokesperson for Mill Road for People said: “We are very pleased to see a focus on shifting from private cars to public transport and active travel, as well as the wish to reduce through traffic and rat running on residential roads, which could create the conditions for more low traffic neighbourhoods.
“However, we feel that these proposals still fall far short of what would be needed to create a true low-traffic city, of which Ghent is a good model. We would prefer to see a more ambitious scheme being put to the people of Cambridge.
“Real change requires courageous and visionary leadership from our politicians and we are under no illusion that the kind of radical measures necessary both to make Cambridge healthier and to meet our climate targets will be a huge challenge.
“We believe that the ideas that we’ve been advocating for on Mill Road could help to pave the way for positive change throughout the city by providing an inspiring model for an attractive, accessible and low-traffic street. With unspent money available from the Transforming Cities Fund, there is no excuse for a half-hearted scheme.”
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