The ongoing war on Cambridge motorists has spread to Hills Road – and is claimed to cause traffic chaos at some of the city’s busiest junctions, with left and right turns set to be banned.
At the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) Joint Assembly meeting on Monday, a majority of members supported further exploration of the proposals to expand cycleways on Hills Road.
But the proposals included banning left and right turns at the Lensfield Road/Hills Road junction – diverting traffic on rat runs through residential areas, harming the safety of local residents and pedestrians.
Although a public consultation was completed in July 2023, banning left and right turns at one of Cambridge’s busiest junctions was not included in the consultation – being slipped in afterwards by the GCP.
The works – set to cost around £7 million – will also include traffic ‘wands’ to separate designated cycle lanes from the road. However, this raises concerns for the safety of motorists and cyclists alike, and also emergency vehicles as cars cannot move to the side of the road to let them through.
Speaking in the meeting, Cllr Heather Williams (Leader of the Conservative Opposition at South Cambridgeshire District Council) said:
“I did sort of have my head in my hands a little bit because I’m all for ensuring all residents have the ability to move around the city as they wish – and that’s as a pedestrian or a cyclist, but drivers as well. And I really don’t think these proposals will help reduce the volume of cars entering this city. It will just displace it.
“And at that point, we are no better off – just financially down.
“If we really want modal shift, we have to take people with us. But I don’t think that doing things like this and proposing banned turnings is the way to get people on side.
“I’m significantly underwhelmed with this part of the proposal.”
Following on from the GCP’s attempt to introduce a £5-a-day Cambridge congestion charge, this latest phase of the GCP’s war against Cambridge motorists seeks to punish drivers with long detours by diverting them away from the city’s main roads while making residents vulnerable to the impacts of rat running.
