Charity calls for ‘default’ 20mph zone within Cambridge city boundary to ‘improve road safety’

CamCycle said a default 20mph limit would improve road safety

A cycling charity has called for proposals for 20mph zones to be extended to cover all roads within Cambridge’s city boundary. Cambridgeshire County Council is currently consulting on plans to introduce new 20mph limits on roads around the city – but CamCycle wants the plans to go further.

A new Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) would see 20mph limits introduced on nearly 20 extra streets, including Queen’s Road, Northampton Street, Chesterton Road until Mitcham’s Corner, Victoria Avenue, East Road and Lensfield Road. Additional streets and sections include the Mitcham’s Corner gyratory, Corona Road, Brooklands Avenue, and the northern part of Coldhams Lane.

A county council spokesperson said of the proposals: “Over 100 people have been seriously injured across these routes since 2017. This proposal follows on from widespread engagement to put in 20mph limits on roads across Cambridge in 2024. Since then, there has been a positive response from communities to more focussed proposals for new 20mph limits in residential areas including Orchard Park.”

However, CamCycle said the charity supports a default 20mph limit within the city boundary. A spokesperson said: “Although many of the proposed routes are residential areas or routes to school, many similar routes have been omitted, including some of those that were most strongly supported for 20mph limits in the 2024 consultation.”

The charity believes the following roads should also be included:

• Gilbert Road;
• The eastern end of Chesterton Road;
• Barnwell Road;
• Long Road;
• Hills Road south of Brooklands Avenue;
• Victoria Road;
• Ditton Lane.

Local resident Barney Cox, who lives near the eastern end of Chesterton Road, said he finds it “strange” that most of the road is 20mph until a small section from Mitcham’s Corner to Elizabeth Way. He said: “It’s part of the route for my child to go and play on Jesus Green and Midsummer Common, to visit his relatives and to go into town, so I’d like to see it as safe as possible.

“More broadly, I’d like to see 20mph within Cambridge for the benefits it makes to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists and, as a motorist, I appreciate having the consistency: I don’t like chopping and changing.“

Mr Cox said he lived in Islington for a long time and when a 20mph zone was introduced there he found that it felt safer. He continued: “It made driving less stressful. As a cyclist and a pedestrian and a parent, it made things less worrying. The risk of someone doing serious harm to me or my family through excess speed was greatly reduced.”

Camcycle CEO Anna Williams said: “More 20mph roads would make walking, wheeling and cycling a safer and more attractive choice for more people and create a clear and consistent environment for drivers. Around 80% of those killed or seriously injured on Cambridge’s roads each year are people walking and cycling, and moving to a default 20mph is an important step towards eliminating this unnecessary suffering.

“It’s not clear why the council, when it claims to support safer journeys for children, has so radically watered down its initial proposals, leaving many busy residential streets intimidating and dangerous. It needs to expand its ambition for the city if it wants to meet its own goal of zero deaths and injuries on our roads and help more people choose active modes of transport.”

A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesperson said: “We’re welcoming all feedback and responses during the consultation period via our online platform. We will review all responses received once the consultation has closed.”