Issue - meetings

The Committee received a presentation from Paul Van de Bulk, Senior Delivery Project Manager, on Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) projects in the north of the city.

 

The Histon Road presentation outlined:

      i.         The Histon Road project was under construction and there was an in-bound traffic closure in place.

    ii.         Phase A (the junction between Victoria Road and Huntingdon Road) was virtually completed.

   iii.         Footpaths had been left without top surfaces as they were working with the County Council to extend the scope of the resurfacing work. This work was hopefully to be completed by Christmas.

  iv.         The works between Victoria Road and Gilbert Road had nearly completed on the eastern side and similarly the works between Gilbert Road and Kings Hedges had mostly been completed on the eastern side.  This included diversion of services and kerbing.  They were about to move on to the western side of the road.  It was hoped that works on the Gilbert Road section would start in February / March 2021.

    v.         Even though there had been a few minor delays, the works were still on target to finish in summer 2021.

  vi.         Had been trying to liaise with the Darwin Green developers to see if their works could be completed whilst the GCP works were being undertaken so that there wasn’t a second lot of works on Histon Road.

 

The Committee made the following comments in response to the presentation:

1.     Had observed cyclists in the morning coming out of Histon Road into the end of Victoria Road going out to Huntingdon Road, it was safe and there was no traffic going at that time. Noted that cars coming from Victoria Road were waiting patiently for the lights to change. Asked about the footpaths in Victoria Road and asked whether these could be included as part of the works.

 

The Senior Delivery Project did not have the full extent of the additional works to hand but knew that there was going to be some additional works down Victoria Road. Noted an improvement for cyclists on the corner of Histon Road and Victoria Road but thought that there might still need to be a few additional improvements made to try and segregate the cycle lanes from the traffic lanes. 

 

2.     Was pleased that the Senior Delivery Project Manager was regularly liaising with the County Council Officers on the active travel covid-19 traffic related schemes as all the works were interrelated.

 

The Senior Delivery Project Manager noted that the difficulty with the Arbury Road works was that the diversion route was via the A14 and Milton Road and unfortunately they could not control where people physically drove.  This could only be controlled by putting in hard physical measures. They would continue to monitor the situation and hoped it would not become significant enough to need harder measures to be implemented as this could just divert the issue to another location.

 

3.     Thanked the Senior Delivery Project Manager for the work undertaken and for trying to coordinate work with CityFibre and the County Council so that there was as small an impact on residents and road users as possible.

 

4.     Expressed concern regarding the diversion signage on the A14. This issue had also been raised at the GCP Assembly that day (19 November 2020). It wasn’t clear whether the issue lay with Highways England as thought the overhead signage was owned by them. Noted the 3 small signs by the side of the road were hard to see. Asked why ‘Cambridge’ could not be removed from the overhead gantry signs.

 

Another issue was that when you pulled off the A14 you were then directed back the way you came.

 

The Senior Delivery Project Manager agreed the small signs on the side of the road were hard to see and that the GCP had actually paid for slightly bigger signs. Commented that the Gantry signs were the best way to direct people but they hadn’t had a positive response from Highways England that Cambridge could be greyed out. They were left using variable message signage (VMS) the only issue with this was that messages could only be displayed for 2 week periods, then there had to be a rest period and then they had to request the message was displayed again. They had tried to time the use of the VMS signs during key periods.

 

The Senior Delivery Project Manager had spoken with Skanska about signage when you came off the A14 and people needed to continue round the roundabout and then carry on via the east bound exit.

 

5.     Had raised the issue of ‘Smart Signals’ at the GCP Assembly that day (19 November 2020) and understood that the County Council were not keen to implement the project. The smart signalling trials in Cherry Hinton were not due to start until March 2021. Noted that CamCycle had also asked useful questions on this issue at the GCP Assembly meeting and whether Smart Signalling took into account cyclists.

 

The Senior Delivery Project Manager noted that there had been delays with the Smart Signals project and did not want an individual system put on Histon Road; a universal system was needed across the city.

 

Members of the public asked a number of questions, as set out below.

 

6.     The Senior Delivery Project Manager commented at the meeting in September that he was not aware of any particular congestion problems in North Cambridge as a result of the Histon Road works and asked whether that was still their assessment? Felt that Arbury Road had seen a large increase in traffic volumes particularly with heavy vehicles. Asked whether there were any plans to measure traffic flow on Arbury Road as part of monitoring the impact of the Histon Road scheme?

 

The Senior Delivery Project Manager commented that some monitoring of the roads had been undertaken including around the top end of Arbury Road and Stretten Avenue. The monitouring indicated that there wasn’t a significant problem arising from the works. This could have been due to the pandemic and the fact that traffic levels were not at ‘normal’ levels.  It should be noted that there was an increase in traffic just before the second lockdown. Noted that some residents had been doing their own monitoring and was aware of a resident in Stretton Avenue who had sent pictures of HGVs using that road so monitouring would continue as they did not want HGVs using that road. There was a plan in place to introduce road narrowing if the issue continued.

 

The Senior Delivery Project Manager noted that various comments had been made about traffic levels on Arbury Road. Their opinion was that traffic levels had not increased. Was aware of a group pushing for a modal filter on that street.

 

7.     At the meeting in September Councillor Scutt highlighted increased traffic on Carlton Way and Mere Way with the works happening on Histon Road.

 

Councillor Scutt expressed concern that if the right-hand turn from Gilbert Road onto Milton Road was stopped then there would be increased traffic through Stretten Avenue.  Officers were requested to work together on such initiatives.  Asked if officers had been working on a coordinated approach?

 

The Senior Delivery Project Manager said they had been in regular contact with the Team who were working on the Arbury Road project so they had an understanding of the project and timescales.  With regard to traffic on Mere way and Stretten Avenue they didn’t feel that there was a significant issue in that area at the moment.

 

8.     The new signal system which was presently nearing the end of construction at the junction of Histon Road, Victoria Road and Huntingdon Road, had been promised to substantially improve the flow of traffic and reduce congestion during peak hours.  Asked if this signal system was part of the GCP programme Smart Signals and also asked if there had been any trials?

 

The Senior Delivery Project Manager said that both sets of signals at junctions Gilbert Road / Warwick Road and Huntingdon / Histon Road had the infrastructure within them to ensure that whichever smart signal was chosen, it could be installed and implemented at those junctions. They weren’t sure at what stage officers were on testing the Smart Signals but these could be implemented on the Histon Road junctions.

 

9.     Cycling the wrong way on the inbound lane footpath to get to the Borrowdale entrance.  Worried pedestrians.  Have you noticed any incidence?

The Senior Delivery Project Manager noted that cycling inbound on Histon Road was, for most of the way, on a fairly wide path. There had been instances where the workers had had to direct cyclists round and stop traffic. One of the biggest issues was that cyclists were sometimes not listening to the workmen, which could cause a dangerous situation. Had witnessed cyclists on footpaths in a particular location and had asked Skanska to ensure that they were not directing cyclists on to footpaths. Were looking to ensure there was space on the carriageway for cyclists.

 

10. Have there been any reductions in cars driving the wrong way on the outbound lane?

The Senior Delivery Project Manager noted that there had been a significant reduction in cars driving down the wrong way on the outbound lane.

 

The Milton Road presentation outlined:

      ii.        The detailed design was just about complete and then a road safety audit would then be required. The traffic regulation orders (TRO) would then need to be done and then works could begin.

    iii.        Would need to wait for the Histon Road works to be completed and then a decision would need to be taken as to whether there would be a break between the Histon Road and Milton Road works or whether the Milton Road works would begin straight away.

    iv.       There could be a stakeholder event or a Local Liaison Forum (LLF) before the TRO consultation.

 

The Better Public Transport project (Waterbeach to Cambridge) presentation outlined:

        i.       A consultation was currently underway with a closing date 14 December 2020. Waterbeach to Cambridge Consultation 2020 | Consult Cambridgeshire (greatercambridge.org.uk)