Cambridgeshire County Council voted 9-5 in favour of closing Mill Road bridge, Cambridge, to all vehicles except buses, pedestrians, cyclists, emergency service, taxis, and blue badge holders. A special highways and transport committee voted today to approve the modal filter on Mill Road bridge.
Cllr Henry Batchelor, chair of the special highways and transport committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “Today, as the chair of this special committee, we heard from all sides and listened to the concerns raised.
“There has been a lot of engagement on this project and whilst this was not an easy decision, we agreed restricting most of the traffic over the bridge would be beneficial and give local people more improvements.”
A county council spokesperson said: “The special committee members considered responses received in the recent five-week statutory notice period for the proposed Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).”
Cllr Count clutching at straws arguing that buses will be travelling at speed – up to 20mph – when bus gate is introduced. @MillRoad4People . Buses not being delayed = benefit of bus gate.
— John Morris (@johnmbrampton) October 4, 2024
The spokesperson said that in Spring 2022, the Greater Cambridge Partnership carried out a consultation where 1,986 online and written responses were received and saw 72% of respondents supporting restricting motor vehicles from crossing Mill Road bridge.
“Recently, a five-week TRO notice period from 9 August to 13 September was advertised following the publication of the proposed Traffic Regulation Order. The council received 1,894 objections (46.5%) and 2,155 comments supporting (52.9%) the proposals,” said the spokesperson.
Members of the special highways and transport committee, following a majority vote, agreed to proceed with the scheme.
The closure will be implemented as a bus gate and blue badge holders will need to register up to two vehicles for exemption via an application form online, which will be available from Monday, 7 October.
Blue badge holders will be required to provide a copy of their valid blue badge paperwork.
Following approval, work will now get underway to implement the bus gate.
Work is expected to start next month (November) and be completed in December.
“More details will follow,” said the council spokesperson.
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The bus gate will be enforced by Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras (ANPR).
Once installed, there will be a month where non-exempt vehicles will receive warning notices only and if they are exempt, would be encouraged to register online.
The council spokesperson explained that in addition, the council is exploring the public realm, walking, and cycling improvements along Mill Road, in collaboration with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and the Greater Cambridge Partnership.
Mill Road bridge, Cambridge, prepares for permanent closure
This will include general improvements such as, additional cycle parking, signage and decluttering the highway.
The meeting was live streamed and is available to listen back on the council’s YouTube page
Mill Road 4 People statement on the TRO decision 04.10.24
Mill Road 4 People is delighted that county councillors today voted to approve the bus gate on Mill Road bridge.
After three consultations, all showing majority support for traffic restrictions on the bridge, it is a great relief that work is now scheduled to begin in November.
As objectors were reminded in the committee meeting, Mill Road does not fulfil the criteria of an arterial road: it is a largely residential C road, which has suffered from being a long straight route towards the city centre.
Newspaper articles describing calls to limit Mill Road traffic go back more than 50 years, and we thank the members of today’s committee for putting in motion action that should have begun many years ago.
Given the weight of evidence presented to councillors on the committee about the benefits of the modal filter, it was difficult to see that the vote could have gone a different way.
As well as compelling testimony from local speakers, the committee was given evidence such as traffic counts from previous periods of closure as well as reports from a large number of similar schemes already operating around the country. All the evidence points to the fact that Mill Road residents and business owners will benefit from lower levels of traffic.
MR4P sees today’s result not as the end goal, but as a starting point for further positive change. There are so many ways we can improve Mill Road once a large volume of traffic has been removed from the street. We look forward to working with local politicians and other groups to make these changes happen.
The last couple of years have been difficult for our local community. Some people have disagreed with our aims, and this has sometimes caused friction. However, we know that everyone who has campaigned on the bus gate and Mill Road more generally has done so through a genuine desire to do their best for our area.
We hope everyone will now accept today’s democratic decision and that we can all work together to create the vibrant, successful Mill Road we all want to see.
