A group of like minded people are trying to start a campaign to try and push for a cyclepath between Bassingbourn and Royston. There have been a couple of incidents recently where people have been knocked off their bikes travelling on the A1198. 3 people on bicycles were driven into only a few weeks ago with some extremely unpleasant injuries sustained.  The A1198 is the only realistic choice for getting to Royston and the railway station etc. so this route is of great importance to the local area for non motorised users.

The meeting will be on Monday 21 March at 7pm at The belle pub, Mill Lane, Bassingbourn.

A letter in the Crow on Feb 11^th stated that the Royston to Cambridge cycle pathway would cost around £70 million!

In fact the estimate for a bridge over the A505 is about £1.5 million, and a connecting path to Melbourn about £1 million.   The recently completed Harston Mill – Shepreth Lakes cycle path has come in under budget at around £1 million. 

To put these figures in context, a single carriageway road costs about 12 times as much per mile as a cycle path, with none of the associated health and environmental benefits.  The A10 paths are designed as ‘dual use’ for all non-vehicle users, providing safe route between villages for walkers, runners, mobility scooters and enabling children to ride or walk short distances independently.  

So far, funds spent on the A10 have come directly from Dept of Transport’s ‘Cycling Ambition Grant’ for projects to encourage more people to cycle safely, improve their physical/mental health and reduce congestion and pollution.  The fund is ringfenced and cannot be used to repair potholes, upgrade public toilets or other general purposes. 

A recent Dept of Transport report ‘Claiming the Health Dividend’ showed overwhelming value for money from investment in walking and cycling, reducing costs to the NHS from illnesses associated with inactive lifestyles.

Saturday December 19th saw us dress up, decorate our bikes and embark on our Sponsored Santa ride. About 20 members and councillors joined us at the start for a tour of the infrastructure around Royston.

All set to go

The purpose is to initiate match-funding opportunities toward a safe off-road A10 path and A505 bridge, linking Melbourn and Royston.

Although some high quality cycle path is being built at the northern end, the Melbourn-Royston stretch remains a rough walking track that has disintegrated and overgrown to such an extent that it resembles little more that a building site. The A10 roundabout at the A505 junction is a busy and dangerous crossing. We want to show Local, Regional and National Government and local businesses that we local residents are prepared to do our bit to help bring about much-needed safe cycling conditions.
Our JustGiving page,for community fundraising on missing A10 cycle links, can be found here. It is open until December 23rd. Donations are still welcome.

Some very good work has been done in Royston, particularly the railway underpass, so we made out way from the station out to the underpass, stopping the view the first class and hugely popular BMX track that has been built

Viewing the BMX track

We than headed down the A10/ A505 roundabout. There is a very good selection of cycle tracks here by the existing housing estate. We looked from the track and all envisaged how good the bridge would be. You are so close here to the employment, leisure centre, schools and other facilities that Royston and Melbourn have to offer. Those of us who had ridden in from Melbourn were all to painfully aware how difficult this is becoming for non-motorised users with the existing  path now in bits and the dual carriageway crossing extremely hostile at peak times.

Some shots around Royston including of the proposed bridge crossing site:

We followed the cycle paths past the school and leisure centre and were soon by the town centre. Quite a few children were excited to see Santa on his bike!

With a better cycle path, Santa could have brought has trailer along the A10 and filled his trailer with presents too!

We did a loop of the town centre and arrived back at the station, all happy to have had a ride and a get together.

Finished

A huge thank you to everybody who attended, especially so close the Christmas.

A massive thank you to all who have donated and left messages of support as well, helping to surpass our target.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.