There was an excellent turn out of approximately 100 people.
Introduction
Jocelynne Scutt, chair of the LLF, introduced the councillors for the area, the chairs of Milton Road
Residents Association (RA), Hurst Park Estates RA and Old Chesterton RA and gave the audience a summary of
the original plans and how the residents and councillors had made them more acceptable. The plans
described at this meeting are based on the Final Concept passed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership Board
last July.
Engineers Paul van de Bulk, officer for the GCP and Neil Poulton from WSP consultants gave the
presentation and questions were asked following this.
Assessment of cycling design
We were told there was not enough room for two segregated cycle lanes on the outbound NW side, an inbound
cycle lane on the SE side, trees and verges and a bus lane. The engineers had discussed removing the
inbound cycleway but this meant cyclists would use the bus lane and paths.
They had listened to the residents who knew that unless there were Copenhagen crossings over the side
roads, cycling would take place on the road. However there was a safety problem with two cycleways on the
NW side as it restricted the view of car drivers coming out of the side roads.
Therefore their decision was to have an single inbound and outbound cycleway protected from the road by
trees and verges and separated from pedestrians. On the NW side next to the outbound 2m cycleway, they
would make a wide path of 3m so it would become shared use for pedestrians and cyclists riding inbound.
This happens now, close to Ascham Road, because of the school. Widening the cycle ways and making them
segregated along the whole of Milton Road would make them far safer and could encourage cycling rather
than using cars.
There were a lot of questions concerning the safety of a shared area. More work will need to be done on
this.
Bus Stops and Crossings
Most bus stops and crossings will stay similar to where they are now with the exception of the stops by
Union Lane, which holds up the traffic lights, and outside the Co-op where lorries unload. There will be
more work on this.
At the workshops residents were given an option of 6 kinds of bus stops. At the time there was
disappointment in what we were offered because of the conflict between cyclists and pedestrians and exits
from driveways in four of the options which did not give those at the workshops a safe option choice for
all users. At the present time there are floating bus stops but Cllr Gerri Bird and other bus users were
concerned for those who are disabled as the new plans would make cycling faster.
Trees and Landscaping
There had been a workshop about trees and landscaping but the specimens offered did not include much
choice. The officers envisage large trees such as limes and tulip trees between the Busway and Elizabeth
Way with smaller birches and flowering trees from Elizabeth Way to Mitcham’s Corner. An external landscape
architect will be advising shortly so the road has a green feel about it. This requires more work and Cllr
Scutt has this in hand.
Elizabeth Way roundabout
The area will stay a roundabout and will be controlled by traffic lights. Safety is a big issue here
especially on the inbound road where cars usually turn into Elizabeth Way and cyclists tend to go straight
over.
There are concerns too over the entrances to a few houses leading directly onto the roundabout.
Mitcham’s Corner
It is intended that the future design of this area should integrate with that of Milton Road.
The inbound cycle path will be next to the path outside the shops here with short term parking in bays for
3 cars with areas for trees between the bays to keep the feel of an avenue of trees.
Bus Lanes
Neil said he had listened to the residents about reducing the bus lanes as they are not used the majority
of time.
There will be Smart Traffic Lights that will give priority to buses.
Bus patronage is falling in Cambridge and the use of the P & R at Milton has dropped by 15%. If a
metro is introduced for Cambridge it is envisaged more people will travel by public transport so MRRA
believe that there will be less need for bus lanes.
Discussions with shop keepers near Arbury Road
Paul had talked to the shops owners near Arbury Road. The majority wanted parking for customers outside
their shops. The exception was 121 café which encouraged cyclists. The area in front of the shops is owned
by the shops whereas the path is owned by the county council. There will be a problem with dropped curbs
for cyclists, making it a very bumpy ride, as well as having to give way to cars trying to park.
The officers were aiming to make a safer and better environment but to do this some parking spaces may be
lost.
Parking
There will be no parking anywhere on Milton Road. Those with no off road parking would park in side
streets. An audit would be carried out to see how many households were affected. Also free dropped curbs,
where appropriate would be offered free of charge. To keep cars off the verges there may be deep curbs and
trees close together. At the moment some cars from Herbert Road and George Street park on Milton Road as
well as some parking there instead of in their drives plus several houses do not have a dropped kerb and
park on the verges.
It is up to residents on neighbouring streets whether they want to introduce residents’ parking
Next steps
There will be another LLF before for next designs go to the GCP Executive Board for approval next July and
this will be followed by a wider public consultation.
The plans for Milton Road continue to develop. In July the Greater Cambridge Partnership Executive Board
agreed an outline plan called the Final Concept. Then over the autumn and winter a number of workshops
were held to discuss details of particular points, e.g. the Elizabeth Way roundabout, cycle paths.
Next the Local Liaison Forum (LLF) is to meet on Tuesday 30th January to discuss issues
arising from the workshops and where this leads in terms of design, what is likely to be changed, what
needs to be done and what inputs are still required. This is an important stage, because after this the
consultants will be tasked to draw up the preliminary design which is to go to the Board in June or July.
Though we will be consulted again in this process, it is always more effective to get our wishes
incorporated into the design at the start, rather than trying to get it changed later.
So please come along and make your views known at the meeting of the LLF on Tuesday 30th
January at 6.00 p.m. in Chesterton Community College. I look forward to seeing and hearing from
you there.
There have been two workshops recently, one on bus stops and pedestrian crossings and another on street
trees. Attendance at these workshops was by application to GCP. Each workshop followed a similar format:
An initial Presentation giving the tasks and parameters for the evening, followed by discussions in small
groups. Milton Road was divided, either side of Arbury Road, for separate discussions and feedback.
Workshop 1 - Bus Stops and Crossings - 19th September
The GCP workshop presentation was given by Officers and the WSP Consultant and participants discussed
preferred design type and location of bus stops and crossings along both sections of Milton Road. At this
meeting the bus lane ran the length of MR unlike our Do Optimum plans.
Presentations were given by the City Council’s Tree Officers who proposed a few tree options and Kieran
Perkins, an urban realm architect, who presented ideas for a sense of place. Participants, in small
groups, were asked to choose species for each section of Milton Road from the pre-selection offered.
Afterwards the groups were allocated one of four potential public spaces for ideas on how these spaces
should be used (Milton Road Library, Shop area near Arbury Road, Land by Woodhead Drive and the King’s
Hedges junction).
Concern was expressed that the current GSP ‘Final Concept’ design left little green space for the promised
grass verge and tree-lined avenue. The Presentation slides can be viewed on the GCP website here: Milton Road Replacement Tree Planting
The County Officers and WSP Consultant will now work up detailed plans, taking into account the workshops
feedback. Followed by:
Presentation to the MR LLF in November/December 2017 and January 2018
Consideration for the final detailed design as a basis for Public Consultation Questionnaire by the
Joint Assembly (28th February 2018) and the Executive Board (21st March 2018)
Public Consultation Questionnaire from May 2018
Consideration of Public Consultation by the Joint Assembly (20th September 2018) and Final detailed
design approval by the Executive Board (11th October 2018)
Forecast completion date of Milton Road remodelling is 2021
Check for Milton Road project updates on the
GCP website and come to the GCP Assembly and Executive Board Meetings.
But most important is to keep lobbying the decision makers for the best possible design for Milton Road
for future generations.
GCP’s current ‘Final Concept’ plans include a full length bus lane, albeit alternating between the north
and south side. We believe a bus lane will not bring the desired modal change and at most only save a
couple of minutes on the rare occasions when the traffic is queuing, before reaching Mitcham’s Corner. We
believe that this is valuable space that could be used for safer walking and cycling, segregated by a
tree-lined avenue of trees and verges the whole length of Milton Road; a safer more environmentally worthy
landscape for one of the main gateways into our beautiful city.
Just three councillors can vote to decide the fate of Milton Road. Please email them with your views.
The GCP Executive Board (the ultimate decision-making body)
The Milton Road Alliance is a joint partnership between MRRA, HPERA, and the Cambridge Cycle Campaign.
It's purpose is to produce a better plan for the Greater Cambridge Partnership, which is currently in the
form of the 'Do Optimum' proposal. More details about the Milton Road Alliance can be found here: www.miltonroadalliance.org
Do Optimum
A joint partnership between MRRA, HPERA, and the Cambridge Cycle Campaign has resulted in the creation of
the 'Do Optimum' alternative to the City Deal's 'Do Something' proposal. The new Do Optimum proposal has
been discussed and a resolution has been passed by the Milton Road LLF to recommend the Do Optimum
proposal to the City Deal board. A joint statement by the 3 groups has been released and can be found here.
The Do Optimum proposal was presented to the LLF by Matthew Danish. A summary of the Do Optimum proposal
can be downloaded here Download
PDF
Cambridgeshire County Council required at least 3000 Cambridgeshire residents' signatures to debate the
petition as part of a full council meeting. The online petition, along with our paper petition, has
surpassed this goal. On 19th July 2016, the Milton Road Residents' Association Chairman presented the
petition for discussion to the County Council.
By the end of the meeting the councillors voted in favour of a motion from Councillor
Jocelynne Scutt for the following recommendation:
'We want a commitment from the City Deal Assembly and the City Deal Board that if, in the end,
construction requires removal of any single one of the trees in Milton Road, then the City Deal monies
return to Milton Road mature trees lining Milton Road’s verges making Milton Road the impressive vista it
should be, a lead-in to Cambridge of which we – all of us – whether Cambridge City or from the County as a
whole can be proud.'
A further motion by Councillor Ian Manning recommending the City Deal to consider other options for Milton
Road was rejected by the councillors:
'This council wishes to express its opposition to any plan that will result in the removal of the
majority of trees on Milton Road. Further the council believes that measures contained in the City Deal do
not represent an efficient or desirable way to tackle congestion and ask that more options be considered
in the public consultation.'
On July 4th 2016, people from all over greater Cambridge were invited to come along to give their views on
the supersizing of Cambridge, its consequences for this beautiful City of Cambridge and its villages, its
impact on those left behind in the rush for growth and to express their views on what they see as the
singular lack of vision and lost opportunities in the City Deal's proposals.
The executive Board has approved the road layout recommended by the City Deal. Watch the full video of the meeting
here where the proposals were unanimously approved.
The City Deal has proposed 3 lanes and in some places 4 lanes of traffic along Milton Road. They are also
proposing to close Union Lane at the junction with Milton Road, banning right turns into Elizabeth way and
also remove the Elizabeth way roundabout. More details of their recommendations can be found at the Milton Road Proposals
section of this site.
