Author Archives: a10cycleweb

A further 14 businesses sign our letter to the City Deal board

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The following businesses have added their support today:

Cross Camping and Leisure Ltd, Melbourn
Frog End Pet Supplies, Melbourn
Craft Corner Ltd, Melbourn
Unlimited Logos, Melbourn
Urban Plastics, Melbourn
Melbourn Flooring and Interiors
I Fairclough c/o Greenhouses Direct Ltd, Melbourn
Yeomans, Shepreth
Pavers Shoes, Shepreth
Tasma Products, Meldreth
Sure Safe, Meldreth
Momentum Body in Balance at Gymbos, Meldreth
Kenzies Coaches, Shepreth
Tesco, Royston

Thank you all for your support.

Support shown for A10 cycle routes by businesses big and small

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Businesses from small local employers to global multi-site corporations have been showing support for safe cycling routes along the A10 for their employees and for the wider community. They have done so by signing out business letter to the City Deal Executive Board Members and Assembly Members.

The letter can be read here

The following companies have all signed so far:

Johnson Matthey, Royston
South Cambs Motors, Melbourn
TAP Biosystems, Royston
ElTek, Haslingfield
The Plough, Shepreth
JRTech, Shepreth
Bury Lane Farms, Meldreth
Cambridge Assessments, Cambridge
AstraZeneca, Royston
MKA Ecology, Shepreth
Breathing Buildings, Cambridge
Sagentia, Harston Mill
Shepreth Wildlife Park
Harston Surgery
Orchard Surgery, Melbourn
River Rhee Consulting, Shepreth
Fieldgate Nurseries, Meldreth
Melbourn Coop
One Stop, Meldreth
Grant Instruments, Shepreth
TTP Group, Melbourn Science Park
Long Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge
Track Access Services, Shepreth
Maycroft Care Home, Meldreth
Reed Autos, Foxton
Outspoken, Cambridge
Village Cycles, Meldreth
Royston Means Business (association of shopkeepers)
Foxton Village Shop
Esson Print, Shepreth
Wrights Mowers, Shepreth
Tea Cake, Shepreth
The Green Man, Shepreth
Country Properties, Melbourn
Philimore Garden Centre, Melbourn
Melbourn Hub
East of England Ambulance Service NHS
Meldreth Parish Council
ARM, Cambridge
Melbourn Village College
Melbourn Library Access Point
Barrington Stores
AB Leisure, Melbourn
Dyspraxia UK, Barrington
Royston First
Melbourn Sports Centre
Oakland Innovation, Harston Mill

Thank you very much to the businesses who have signed. Please get in touch if your business can also sign the letter.

A reminder that paths aren’t just for bicycles

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Another letter we have received. Cycles aren’t the only way to get from A to B. The paths benefit far more than just cycles:

I am very grateful the cycle path is along the main road from the Weaver’s Shed to the crossroads at Shepreth. As a mobility scooter user it makes getting to my mother’s at Fowlmere so much easier.  If I went the back way past the Bird Reserve the drivers of cars would not be happy.
I would love to be able to get to Royston on my scooter but would be very scared of crossing the by-pass. Yes there are buses but on a nice day as I have a scooter I would rather use it. I would also be able to get to my doctor’s at Burns Road so I could get an appointment any time rather than time it with the buses.
I am for a safe passage from Melbourn to Royston using my scooter as I love to get out rather than stay in.

Yours
Jeannette

Challenging the City Deal decisions

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As most of you will be aware, the final decisions on the city deal excluded all cycling schemes outside of the main city itself. The belief within the board that made the final decision was that people would not cycle more than one or two miles. The only consideration was “will people cycle the entire route” between Royston and Cambridge. For example, people using sections of the route were not taken into account. People who could cycle to the local railway station on a folding bike and use it the other end were ignored. People who work outside of the main city were ignored. The notion of a cycle or scoot to school, rather than being driven, didn’t seem to enter the collective consciousness of the board.

This belief can be changed though. As a campaign we need to gather evidence of the journeys people cycle in order to demonstrate the type of usage people make by bike. We all know journeys of considerably more than a mile or two are regularly completed. But those journeys of a mile or two are still to be celebrated. It’s a great way to get some exercise, reduce congestion and parking problems around the village shops and most importantly, it normalises cycling. The more people that are seen on cycles, the more it catches on.

So what can you do?

We need to capture the type of journeys people do. Do you cycle to the shops or school? Do you avoid the A10 like the plague and use the Fowlmere Newton road instead? Do you cycle all the way to town? We need to capture as many of ANY journeys made by bicycle, however big or small.

We are exploring ways to allow people to log their rides, but to start we are going to use two popular internet forms of media.

  1. Twitter. If you use the hashtag #a10cycle with a small line of text like Foxton – Addenbrooks, 5 miles, we’ll be able to see that.
  2. Strava. We have created a club called a10cycle on Strava, the popular (and free) activity logging site. If you are already a Strava user, you can simple join the club https://www.strava.com/clubs/a10cycle

If you like to track your activities and fancy giving GPS logging a go, Strava do Android and IOS apps for free that use your smartphones GPS.

City deal excludes South of Cambridge

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Dusting off and looking ahead
 
The A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign meets 29 January, 7 for 7:30, at Sagentia, Harston Mill.  
 
The update on City Deal funding will help us to understand why, in the wake of yesterday’s astonishing decision by the tiny group of City Deal Executive decision-makers, all rural cycle schemes for South Cambridgeshire were thrown out – in spite of their strong evidence base for improving the well-being of our area in so many ways.  South Cambridgeshire itself was represented by just a single elected representative, the Leader of South Cambs District Council, who appears unconvinced that investing in the transformative safe cycling networks so ably scoped and developed by our professional transport strategists, is a good thing to do: for road safety, traffic congestion and public health. 
 
The larger and more representative City Deal Assembly which met on January 12 to make its recommendations to the Executive had carefully considered the Royston-Cambridge cycle link scheme and voted to support it.  It was fair to assume, in the spirit of the democratic system which governs our society, that the Executive would respect the Assembly’s recommendations.  Instead its final decision was one of those kicks in the teeth that reminds us that our system has much room for improvement.
 
While the decision is very disappointing, the strong case for transforming the A10 Corridor to one that encourages multi-modal sustainable transport remains and will become increasingly compelling as vehicle congestion thickens and gridlock becomes more frequent. We have a strong and growing group of campaigners committed to keep working for the transformation of the A10 corridor into one that is good for moving about not just by car – for everyone’s sake.  The City Deal won’t be the last opportunity that comes along and we’ll need to make sure we are poised for the next.

Why I don’t use the A10 cycle path

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An example of the letters we receive. The new sections of path are welcome, but a couple of short intermittent sections do not make a route desirable or even possible.

“Last Friday as I cycled South from Cambridge on the A10 at about 5pm, I got shouted at not once but twice in one hour by motorists who told me to use the ****** cycle path.

Going up to Cambridge, or coming back in daylight, I use the A10 cycle path, even though its generally poor condition makes the ride slower and less comfortable. But most of it is narrow, rutted, potholed, and over-grown by low-hanging trees and trailing brambles. In winter weather the path can get littered with debris. And cycling South after dusk, into the face of oncoming traffic, I can see none of this, as the cars’ dipped headlights shine right into my face, blinding me. Cycling South on the footpath after dusk is, in short, incredibly dangerous. I can get off and walk, or risk cycling into a ditch or tree, or risk hitting an obstacle and ending up in the road. Cycling North after dark is not a lot better, but at least then the cars behind you light up most of the path. Not all … but most.
So I cycle on the road, as do many others. And occasionally get sworn at for it.  Which is upsetting, but is also frightening as a few drivers slow down to shout at me. They are taking *their* eyes off the road, in the dark, in order to tell me off. I drive enough to know that is not safe.
The vast majority of drivers are careful, courteous, give a well-lit cyclist lots of road room, and show no resentment of having to share the road with me. I am grateful to them, and I try to reciprocate by keeping out of the way, obeying traffic signs, signalling and so on. But only a vast majority. There are always a few … well, others.
So I have three choices (other than to join the drivers). I can take the cycle path and take the 50:50 chance of ending up in a ditch or in front of a lorry. I can ride on a busy road and take the 1:1000 chance of being killed, and the chance of being shouted at. Or I can cycle through Addenbrookes, Shelford, Newton and Fowlmere and avoid the A10 entirely.
The country route is 2 1/2 miles longer, dark, winding and without a cycle path at all, but, hey! I don’t get dazzled and I don’t get shouted at. So I have taken to doing that.
If those building or repairing cycle paths can help address this, I for one would be hugely grateful, and would happily use the results of your efforts, and leave the motorists in peace to vent their frustrations on a Friday evening some other way.
Your sincerely,
William”

The Veteran Cycling Club enjoying the new Hauxton – Trumpington path

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On Sunday 17 November 2012 some 13 members in the Cambridge Section of the V-CC (Veteran Cycling Club) made good use of the newly opened Hauxton – Trumpington Cycle Path. All commented on how much more comfortable and safe this was than crossing two M11 slip roads via the M11/A10 roundabout. Cycling along this new stretch of cycle path was also a pleasure, as it takes you away from the traffic for approximately one mile . All are looking forward to being able to cycle more safely from their normal meeting place – Trumpington Road Park and Ride to Royston

V-CC cyclists using the newly opened M11 Cycle Bidge

 

V-CC cyclists using the new path at it's junction with the busy A10

Hauxton Trumpington path now open

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The new path that runs through Trumpington Meadows Country Park has opened today. This should provide an attractive alternative to crossing the M11 roundabout. It may need to temporarily close occasionally as further work is carried out, we’ll advise as best we can. For now it is open to the public. We hear the surface has now been swept and tidied up, thank you to those who made that happen.

The route has been added the Open Street Map to plan your cycle journeys.

The path entrance at the Hauxton end:

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Follow path across M11 bridge:

WP_000619Exit is by Addenbrook’s Road at the Trumpington end:

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GPS log show it is only 300 meters longer and you don’t have to wait to cross the M11 slip roads:

Path