I have responded - having had discussions with parish councils - to the consultation on how to reduce traffic along the A1307 and the "three campuses".
Local perceptions are that traffic does not travel in a neat straight stream into Cambridge from points east along the A1307, but rather splays out to travel along the A505 or up and down the A11.
A transport hub that allowed bus services to pick up from a park and ride at the junction of the A505, A1307 and M11 would seem to be a sensible proposal. It would need to offer a stopping service for settlements such as Sawston rather than just speed into Cambridge City.
The other point is the need to put real pressure on the rail operator to take account of the growing importance of Whittlesford Parkway as a key transport hub that services the science centres running along the A505 and A1307. The provision in 2015 of a cycle path through to Granta Parks and to Babraham from Whittlesford shows how the station is shifting in its purpose, from a commuter station for people travelling to and from Cambridge and London, to a transport hub bringing people to work in this part of South Cambs.
If the station is to form part of a plan to reduce car traffic on the A505 in particular, there has to be a new thinking to reflect that change in the flows of train users. At the moment there is no public transport connectivity with the station and the bike routes are limited, while bike storage and access over the footbridge at the station itself are inadequate.
The A505 in particular needs a consistent level of cycle path provision along it running to the west as far as the IWM, at Duxford, and to the north, through Whittlesford to the proposed stem cell research centre forming part at the Spicers site, as the cycleway to the east to Granta parks now delivers.
No comments:
Post a Comment