We have received confirmation that the Harston path works will require temporary traffic signals to be in place until the 1st September end of the school holidays between 8AM and 5PM. After September 1st, the temporary lights will be in operation between 9.30AM and 3.30PM.
The work is expected to take 18 weeks, NOT 18 months as recently reported. We appreciate this is still a long time for many and thank you for your patience. With the surrounding country lanes having becoming extremely busy and fast at commuting times, this path is rapidly becoming the only serious option for many who want or need to cycle.
We have received communication from Cambs CC about the Harston works. As we understand it, the work will not happen during the rush hour, so both carriageways should be open as usual at those times to motor vehicles. The schedule, which may still be subject to change, is detailed in following correspondence:
“Improvements to the shared use footway on the west side of High Street are planned to start on Monday 7th August 2017 with a planned duration of 20 weeks. The extent of work is between Harston Mill and London Road. Work will start at the southern end of the village and then proceed north to London Road.
During work we will need to use traffic management in the carriageway via two way temporary traffic lights. We are expecting there to be delays in the area so please seek alternative routes or plan ahead for your journey. The footway will need to be closed in sections to allow for construction. Pedestrians and cyclists will be diverted to the footway on the opposite side via signal controlled crossings. We would ask that all users follow signage as required.
We will be placing ‘Business Open As Usual’ signs ahead of the road works. If you can think of anything else we can do to assist please let us know.
There will be a Pre-Construction Event on Tuesday 1st August at 4pm in The Village Hall. This will include a presentation of the scheme and will give you the chance to ask any questions you may have.”
Ely Cycle Campaign have posted a great video of the new cycle underpass leading to Ely Leisure Village. It’s a great example to how this infrastructure should go in at the time of building. It’s exactly the sort of infrastructure we need at Royston around the dual carriageway of the A505/A10 intersection where it’s simple shocking that it could have been built without a bridge of proper crossing in the first place, so people now have to campaign to see a proper job done. We have for too many examples of developments such as the CB1 development around Cambridge Station where through cycling has been deliberately excluded, the information was there, it was a choice to exclude it. We need to do it properly in the first place.
On Sunday May the 7th, the A10 Corridor Cycle campaign held its annual awareness ride.
This year there was only one ride from Trumpington Park & Ride. There has been great progress on this section of the path, but no-one felt able to organise a ride from the Royston end. The situation is so dire south of Melbourn with traffic, that no one feels confident enough to organise an open ride at this end. When you travel the entire route, the South end feels abandoned, effectively generations apart compared to the new infrastructure that is place in areas to the North.
Efforts have been made by some members recently to improve the situation, but there is only so much individuals can do with a problem on an industrial scale.
Having said that some good infrastructure has been put in to the north. With this infrastructure, people of all ages can travel along most of the route in peace.
A large group of riders left Trumpington at about 10.15 and travelled through Trumpington Meadows, which is maturing and looking delightful on a sunny day. People do remark that on a dark night in the winter, they simple won’t use such an isolated route, but on a nice sunny day it makes a good leisure route with a roughly 50-50 split between people using it and choosing to stay on the path next to the A10.
The next section is down through Harston. This section is set to see improvement works beginning in the summer, which we welcome.
The awareness ride was covered by ITV. Some of those tiny children cycled all the way, if you think it’s too far for a grown adult to cycle. Read their article here.
Once south of Harston, you are now on the new paths all the way to Melbourn, which are a joy to use, especially on a dark and windy night, which when you find out how good infrastructure really is. The group managed to progress at a steady pace. We used the new crossing islands in the A10 to cross and settled in for a social an cake at Phillimore Garden Centre. Many thanks to them for hosting us. A group travelled on an unofficial ride to explore further through Melbourn. Hopefully more of that will appear later.
The campaign was featured on the Dotty McLeod Breakfast Show There is some argument against the proposed schemes then our argument for from about an hour in. Listen to the show here.
Also a big thank you to CTC Cambridge for publicising our campaign and ride on their website which can be seen here.
Do feel free to join us for our awareness ride this Sunday. We love to see anybody on a bike.
Spring is here, the weather is improving, and families are once again taking to their bikes to enjoy the outdoor life in South Cambridgeshire and North Hertfordshire. One local social cycling tradition, and a public highlight in the calendar of the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign, is the A10 Awareness Cycle Ride. The ride this year takes place on Sunday 7 May, setting off from Trumpington Park & Ride at 10am.
As well as being a fun event for all the family, the annual A10 Awareness Cycle Ride is designed to focus the attention of local people on the state of cycling infrastructure along the main road joining Cambridge and Royston. Since the well-attended and much enjoyed ride in 2016, a new section of shared-use foot and cycle path has been completed between Harston Mill and Melbourn, leaving improvements to the path through Harston village, and a final stretch alongside the A10 between Melbourn and Royston, to complete the link between Cambridge and Royston.
Fully-costed plans are now in place for the missing link, including a pedestrian and cycle bridge over the A505. The A10 campaign group is negotiating with funding bodies and other stakeholders, with a view to the link being approved and completed in short order, to the benefit of local residents and others looking to use the path for both work and leisure.
“The Cambridge-Royston A10 scheme is really taking shape now,” says A10 Corridor Cycling campaign chair and Cambridgeshire County Councillor Susan van de Ven. “This will be an ideal opportunity to experience the ease of getting up and down the corridor on a safe, smooth, off-road path. It will be our last annual ride through Harston before the transformative work set to start this summer – and we are pushing very hard to see the Melbourn-Royston link to fruition.”
Details of the A10 Awareness Cycle Ride 2017…
The route for the A10 Awareness Cycle Ride 2017 is the same as last year, with a start point at Trumpington Park & Ride, and ending at the Phillimore Garden Centre in Melbourn. It is a relatively short ride on shared-use paths separated from motor traffic. The ride is suitable for cyclists of all ages and levels of experience, and we strongly encourage children to take part, accompanied by responsible adults. Participants will be led and marshalled by experienced cyclists from the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign, a local group affiliated to national cycling body Cycling UK.
When: Sunday 7 May 2017 @ 10am
Where: Trumpington Park & Ride
Please join with us on Sunday to celebrate the new pedestrian and cycling path between Cambridge and Melbourn, and send a message on the need to complete the link to Royston!
A poster for this ride can be viewed or downloaded here if you wish to print one for notice boards etc.
