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Cambridge cyclists to see 3,000-space cycle park plans, council plans to light up guided busway path

County Council says tud lights will enable more people to use busway cycle path in winter months... but not this winter

Members of Cambridge Cycling Campaign, which has campaigned long and hard for increased bike parking provision at the city’s railway station, will this evening be shown plans of the 3,000-place cycle park due to be installed there as part of the CB1 development. Meanwhile Cambridgeshire County Council has announced that solar-powered stud lighting is to be installed on the path alongside the guided busway from St Ives to Cambridge for the benefit of cyclists and walkers.

The cycle parking facility is being built by developers Brookgate as part of the major mixed-use scheme it is constructing in the area around the station. The firm has provided indicative images of the facility on its website.

The Department for Transport announced £2.5 million funding for the cycle park and associated cycle hub including workshop and retail facilities in March this year.

A spokesman for Cambridge Cycle Campaign told Cambridge News: “We are delighted that the problem of cycle parking at the station is finally being addressed in a comprehensive manner after 10 years of campaigning.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/Wraps-come-off-cycle-park-plan...

“Demand has consistently been higher than the number of racks currently in place.

“This new, 3,000- space cycle park will also go a long way to addressing the fly- parking that this lack has encouraged.”

He added: “We also invite the public to think about a good name for this unique structure. The name should announce clearly and loudly that Cambridge is the national leader in cycling.”

According to Cambridge Cycling Campaign’s Facebook page, tonight’s meeting starts at 8pm at the Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane.

Cambridgeshire County Council, meanwhile, has revealed plans for stud lighting to be installed on the path alongside the guided busway from Orchard Park on the edge of Cambridge to St Ives, from where the bus route continues along an existing road to Huntingdon.

The council, which says that such lights have previously been successfully installed on cycle routes including ones between Over and Swavesey and Addenbrooke's Hospital to Shelford, says that they will enable more people to use the cycle path, which opened in August 2011, in the winter months.

Perhaps not this winter, however – installation will begin in January with works due to last eight weeks, and the council warns that “some disruption is likely.” The cost is estimated at £95,000, funded by money allocated under he Local Sustainable Transport Fund, and is said to have minimal environmental impact. 

Councillor Ian Bates, Cambridgeshire County Council’s cabinet member for growth and planning, commented: “This is fantastic news for those who use the Busway maintenance track to walk and cycle.

“Solar studs will provide a trail route for users to follow while having no ongoing cost for the Council.

“The Council is committed to providing good facilities for cyclists and pedestrians and will be looking towards lighting other sections of the busway maintenance track.”
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

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Municipal Waste | 11 years ago
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 39 So if I lock my bike up somewhere in the city centre, say outside my choice of coffee shop, will I eventually end up getting some fine or what not for not using the parking centre even though the whole point of bringing my bike instead of the car was that I could park right outside?  39

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arowland | 11 years ago
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Solar stud lighting?

Eschewing the obvious temptation to say, 'well, they must light up when I pass, then', aren't they those annoying lights in the road that just shine into your eyes so you can't see properly?

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Al__S replied to arowland | 11 years ago
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No, the ones they'll use (already in place on other routes around Cambridge) are well angled, picking out the edge of the tarmac (as long as the verge isn't overgrowing)

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Gnomeicide | 11 years ago
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You can't not applaud the idea of a 3000 space cycle park. But of the three storeys available, two will be accessed by -walking- your bicycle up stairs. Yes, thats right, you have to get off and push. So 10/10 for the idea, 4/10 for application. You'd never build a multi-storey car park where the motorists are required to get out and push...

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a.jumper replied to Gnomeicide | 11 years ago
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Gnomeicide wrote:

You'd never build a multi-storey car park where the motorists are required to get out and push...

Well, you could argue that this is another reason that it's better by bike: we can get off and push and use more efficient parking, not waste some available space on making the access ramps shallower!

But I do wonder why they don't tilt the parking decks and avoid any space spent on ramps.

Once more, I'm reminded of http://lcc.org.uk/articles/what-would-british-roads-look-like-if-we-trea...

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new-to-cycling | 11 years ago
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I wish the bike trails where I live were lighted. It gets dark by 5pm in the winter which makes it really hard to get a ride in without some serious lights.

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Dr_Lex | 11 years ago
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"[...]plans for stud lighting to be installed on the path alongside the guided busway from Orchard Park on the edge of Cambridge to St Ives"
Is this the section that was underwater recently, thanks to building it well below the busway? Raising the path would be a better use of the money; can't see solar studs being a better substitute for having just a £5 torch on the 'bars to light the way.

(Bike park sounds a good move, though)

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