New cycle-friendly cattle grids fail to stop cows escaping and roaming free on bike path, causing “rush hour gridlock”

Cows in Cambridge have been launching their own bovine breakaway on one of the city’s cycle paths this week – by taking advantage of newly installed cattle grids designed to be more friendly to people on bikes.

The adapted barriers were installed across the city as part of a new active travel scheme by Cambridgeshire County Council to enable cyclists and people using wheelchairs and mobility scooters to cross the cattle grids more easily.

However, their low-profile design has prompted several agile cows – a common feature for centuries on Cambridge’s green spaces – to navigate the new barriers and make their way onto the Chisholm Trail in the northeast of the city.

The escapees were spotted earlier this week by Cambridge artist and former Labour councillor Hilary Cox Condron, who jokingly tweeted that the marauding members of the herd were causing “rush hour gridlock” for cyclists using the path.

The Cambridge Cows have negotiated the cattle grids at the Chisholm bridge. ‘We’ll see em in Aldi with shopping trolleys next’ a passer by muttered.

(Yes ⁦@camcitco⁩ Pinder was contacted before I tweeted!) pic.twitter.com/SKfVf5uyjl

— Hilary Cox Condron (@HilCoxCondron) June 14, 2023

A spokesperson for the city council, who noted that the cows are able to step over the grids and squeeze between the bollards, said the issue was rectified quickly, while the pedestrian underpass that runs beneath the Fen Causeway has also been blocked off completely by the city council to prevent more cows from using it to reach the gate-free pasture at Sheep’s Green.

“It was a very well-meaning scheme,” Green councillor Naomi Bennett told the Cambridge Independent.

“The adapted cattle grid was installed so that cyclists and people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters could cross it without being too shaken up.

“Unfortunately, the cows could easily walk across and escaped onto the Chisholm Trail where they ate all the new trees that had been planted there. Luckily that situation was remedied quite quickly.”

> Cyclist's arm stuck in cattle grid for 90 minutes after fall from bike

However, others aren’t as convinced of the merits of the cycle-friendly scheme.

One Cambridge resident, quoted by the Daily Mail, said the seemingly ineffective cattle grids brought “a new meaning to the taxpayers of Cambridge being ‘cash cows’ for cyclists in the city”.

The local continued: “This is what happens when decisions are based not on common sense, but on appeasing the selfish demands of a handful of cycling extremists who have no consideration for the world around them.

“There was nothing wrong with the previous gates/grids. What a complete waste of time and taxpayers’ money.”

Glcambridge rush hour gridlock pic.twitter.com/AzdIMBll7C

— Hilary Cox Condron (@HilCoxCondron) June 14, 2023

A Cambridge City Council spokesperson said: “We have found previously that cows can straddle narrow cattle grids and squeeze between bollards, and shared our concerns with County Council colleagues. We understand measures are to be put in place that will reduce the risk of cows escaping, whilst retaining the desired open cycle and footpath routes.”

Meanwhile, the county council, which is responsible for the cattle grids, said that it is working on a solution which will still allow access to the path for those cycling and wheeling, while (hopefully) preventing further bovine escapes.

“We put in the new cattle grids as part of our Active Travel programme which replaced the vehicle and pedestrian gates,” a spokesperson said.

“We’re aware of the concerns from the City Council about the cows and we’re looking to put in some additional railings as soon as possible.

“Work will be carried out on the cattle grids to allow for up to 20-tonne vehicles and we’re working with Cambridge City Council about the wheelchair tracks and what we can do to reduce the risk of cows escaping. We will fix this as soon as possible.”