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You can also have your say on Mill Road – what route for the future?
With Mill Road railway bridge now re-opened and the gas-main works dragging to a (belated) conclusion, what’s our vision for Mill Road?
See also Summer Festival Feedback, for Petersfield.
The Mill Road Summer group organised an open meeting with short presentations from key stakeholders and time for discussion.
Videos and a summary of feedback can be found in this link to the Over Mill Road Bridge blogpost, which is open for your comments. Over Mill Road Bridge is a campaigning organisation set up in 2018 by Romsey Labour Party.
What motor traffic do we want to allow on Mill Road?
Which categories of motor traffic should have unrestricted access to Mill Road?
- Private cars from out of the area, heading for the Grafton or the railway station?
- Taxis from out of the area, heading for the railway station?
- Taxis to our own homes?
- A through bus service to Addenbrooke’s?
- Extra bus services if traffic jams cam be eliminated?
- Deliveries to shops?
- Deliveries to our homes?
- Residents’ cars driving out of the area to work?
- Residents’ visitors’ vehicles?
Which should be stopped at a virtual barrier by ANPR cameras? And where should that barrier, if desired, be? How can we keep the traffic we want and eliminate that which we don’t?
Please contribute your (polite) comments, below.
[…] See also What next for Mill Road? […]
Would it be possible to have restrictions traveling over the bridge so only buses, taxis and potentially deliveries for shops can cross (as well as bikes an pedestrians of course). My sense is that most of the problems have come from the gas main repairs rather than the bridge closure. I would be interested to know the impact on the shops in Romsey. After an initially horrible couple of weeks my observations is that there have been lots of people out on the streets. As a pedestrian the traffic reduction has been great in Romsey but crossing over the bridge has been very unpleasant. One thing I have noted is the reduction in people speeding down Mill road on the Romsey side. There is very little to enforce the 20 MPH speed limit and it worries me with such a large number of people (pedestrians, bikes and cars using the road that people go at high speeds when the road appears to be clear. There is little room on the pavement at times for everyone who is using it.
The air quality has been far better on Mill Road and in surrounding streets since the closure of the bridge. The improvement to air quality indoors is also noticeable. The residents’ parking scheme has also helped. Could the through-traffic be limited, as follows, to:
buses and taxis – at all times
health care visitors, doctors, ambulances, police, etc. – at all times
waste removal trucks – their normal schedules
deliveries to local shops – at scheduled times
cars accessing local garages – at all times
The temporary open-air cafes have been an excellent feature, well worth expanding and developing. Congratulations to all who have organised this.
A semi-pedestrianised Mill Road along these lines could have a hugely beneficial effect on all aspects of life-quality for residents.
On a separate matter, the reduction in parked cars along Stockwell Street, Hope Street, Cockburn Street and Argyle Street has opened up a good deal of space. How about planting some small flower beds on these streets, especially where there are currently double yellow lines? A bit of greenery and colour would cheer these streets enormously
Access to local garage at all times how about the local shops ?
Permit holders parking in the streets you mentioned have only moved the problem to Cathrine st
And the temporary cafe bars has completely restricted delivery’s into our shop
Voice of reality
“How can we keep the traffic we want and eliminate that which we don’t?” Wouldn’t it be MARVELLOUS if every community in Cambridge could arrange life so that only their lives, their convenience, their family and their neighbours mattered? Those of us living over here near Addenbrookes are heartily fed up too with “other people” using “our” roads to get to work, to school, or even to the hospital. Let them all find alternative routes!
Are we all NIMBYs at heart?
When I was able to drive, I too used ‘rat runs’ until the council installed road bumps and no – I dont see this as a solution for Mill Road!
There must be better ways. How about metal posts by the curb to stop people parking up? How about better policing to ticket people who stop “just to go and get some cash from the cash machine” or “post a letter ” or carry out an errand. And as for deliveries, reassess the loading times.
I just hope we get a good turnout at the next public meeting and ideas will tossed around and discussed. We cannot and should not stop private or public vehicles coming down Mill Road (sorry cyclists, you don’t own the roads).
Whatever happened during the bridge repairs, stays with the bridge repairs.
Mill Road was never designed to be pedestrian only.
This is my third attempt leaving a message. Every time I scroll down my initial message is wiped off.
I cannot possibly remember what I said but the gist is that I think the whole of the Mill Road closure and gas main repairs has been handled atrociously. Just why the Council thought that replacing the gas mains in conjunction with the bridge works was a good idea when they are already behind schedule was a good idea totally baffles me.
Why does everyone assume that all people in Cambridge are able to walk or cycle? What about the disabled, the elderly and the vulnerable? What happened to their rights to have access to their city centre, the hospital and their railway station? I have spent a fortune on taxis from Mill Road Broadway to get to Petersfield because all these goddamn stupid multiway traffic light controls. I just sit in the taxi and watch the metre go higher and higher to over £9 to drive what should have been half a mile..
As for access to other vehicles, I don’t give a toss. Mill Road is a thriving independent High Street and a major route. These recent works have done almost irreparable damage to some Independent Traders. Is that what everybody wants. More chain stores and less independent retailers?
And I hope you all enjoyed your street parties. To me they meant nothing. All I have ever wanted is to be able to access my city through my bus route, the C2. Having suffered through the recent 2 months, I now face 6 months of being completely unable to access Addenbrooke’s. Couldn’t come at a worse time as I have brain tumours and need regular visits. Could somebody please tell me exactly how I am supposed to get to these appointment? I am banned from driving, I don’t cycle, I can’t walk and taxes are costing me a fortune.
And just how is dining alfresco when it is dark, cold, rainy and windy.
All I am asking for is a bus route that operates a regular and reliable services to my local hospital and city centre. I live in a vastly residential area and is it too much to expect that Stagecoach could operate a service like this? Three buses an hour is woefully inadequate, especially when many of the bus stops on the route provide no seats, shelter or electronic timetables and the Stagecoach app cannot be trusted.
Is Stagecoach interested? Is the council interested? Is the Mayor motivated enough to get off the fence and do something?
We united and sadly lost the fight against Tesco. Can we not unite again and put pressure to bear on these organisations that show they really don’t care about us?
Wow, Ruth. Very well put, and very brave of you to go against the prevailing ‘ two wheels good, 4 wheels bad’ narrative. Many people agree, but are too busy getting on with life to be bothered to speak up.
Brave or stupid?!!
It is the minority of cyclists that give the majority of cyclists a bad name. I am sick and tired of sitting on the fence and so I am coming out of the closet to say that I resent cyclists because they seem to think they have an automatic right to do anything. Even road signs tell cars to think bike; why not bike think car? Because no matter whose fault an accident may be, the cyclist is going to come off the worse.
They do things the car drivers are banned from doing.
They do not have lights, they do not wear reflective clothing or helmets, they text whilst cycling hands-free, they speak on their mobile phones, they wear hoodies so they are completely blind to anything else on the road, they listen to the music cutting off 1 essential sense – that of hearing. They cycle 2 by 2 and now they are allowed to cycle the wrong way down a one-way street, putting even more pressure on the car driver to look out for them. when I was driving, I would never anticipate what the cyclists will do. Even if I am at a traffic light with my indicator flashing left. I know the cyclist on my inside will probably cycle across me. Driving at anti-social hours, cyclists ignore traffic lights.
I have probably offended and alienated so many of you, but I call it like I see it. And perhaps some of you thinking well, she’s got a point!
A lot of the traffic flow on Mill Road is slowed to at least 5mph because cyclists are trying to cycle over Mill Road Bridge, wobbling and making it unsafe for vehicles to overtake.
Until all cyclists take responsibility for their actions, pay a small sum for the road they drive on (nevermind the pavements) and have some form ID or insurance, nothing is going to change my mind. I have lost too many wing mirrors and had my car scratched by too many irresponsible cyclists.