Mill Road in Cambridge is a key cycling route. It connects much of the heavily residential east of the city to the centre, and is crossed by routes to and from the railway station. It's also an important destination, with lots of local shops, restaurants, takeaways and with many fine pubs just off on the side streets.
It's also a traffic clogged hell hole. The street is generally narrow, often with both a narrow roadway and narrow footways. Despite this it carries heavy traffic, much of it through traffic from the outer ring road to the inner. Two roads to the south- Tenison Road and Coleridge Road- also carry through traffic, with speeds on the latter often being high.
To the north west of the road, in north Petersfield through motor traffic to Newmarket Road is prevented by barriers giving cycle access. There are also a couple of these in Romsey (the east side).
Most of the cycling and walking "problems" in Mill Road and the surrounding streets are due to this through traffic. So, rather than fiddling with road widening, or "shared space" concepts, I propose radical action. Lets stop the traffic.
The map shows the restrictions I'd put in. I'd also remove a couple of existing restrictions, such as on Argyle Street. The exact location of the restrictions can of course be altered- considerations such as turning space for motor vehicles need to be worked out. But the principle should stay as it is.
On Mill Road and Coleridge Road I've marked in "Bus Gates". Both these roads have bus routes, which provide vital links especially for the less mobile. The bus routes though are low enough frequency that I'd hope they won't be a problem, if there's much less private motor vehicle traffic. With the reduced traffic the bus operator should support such a scheme as it would make the bus journey times far more reliable!
I've left a point to be debated- should, as in the city centre, taxis (but not minicabs) be permitted. it's a contentious issue- again, taxis are especially useful for those with reduced mobility, even more so late evenings when buses are infrequent or non-existent. Blocking taxis would mean higher fares.
The problem with the taxi exception is the amount of the traffic which is taxis in this area, because of the train station. Do you get a sufficient traffic reduction if taxis are still permitted?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure. I think severing Tenison Road would mean far less taxis on Mill Road even without closing the bridge. I'd not let Taxis through the Coleridge road gate. But it is definitely worth consideration.
DeleteInteresting idea.
ReplyDeleteBarring private cars over Mill Rd. bridge would, I think, start to tame Mill Road. But I do wonder whether the residents of streets immediately either side of it would stomach it. Still, well worth a ponder.
I lived locally & would have loved to see this implemented. So you might be surprised.
DeletePerhaps demonstrably local residents could be provided with tag to pass the bus gate? Make the scheme an easier pill to swallow. Though need to balance that with potential watering down of the scheme.
Go damn comment-eating system.
DeleteI know one car-owning resident of a side street who keeps on mentioning that this should happen.
Has anyone asked the residents of York St and surroundings if they mind being cut off from Mill Rd? Would they happily swap access for traffic passing by their houses? I suspect not. We have closed off roads to good effect before.
A great first blog Al. I fully agree with your proposal. Having lived just off Mill Road for a number of years solving the traffic issue was a common topic with my wife (a former traffic-planner). The solution we came back to time and time again was blocking the through traffic along Mill Road. We came to the same conclusion as you that the natural location for this would be the rail bridge.
ReplyDelete"Radical" add ons:
ReplyDeleteparking permit scheme to cover the whole area. No on-road parking where houses have drive ways. end the disastrous pavement parking. Many more on-road cycle racks in the Petersfield and Romsey terraces.