Cycling campaigners urge rethink of Cambridge anti-terrorism barriers

alansmurphy wrote:

That video shows why people hate cyclists!!!

Because they're travelling much faster than the cars stuck in traffic.

alansmurphy wrote:

 

That video shows why people hate cyclists!!!

I think, rather, it shows what a hugely disproportionate share of throughfare space cars take up in comparison to the number of people being moved by them. And what a nuisance they are in in terms of constantly obstructing all the traffic.

Prosper0 wrote:

Nothing says "we'll beat terrorism" more than making the lives of everyone, more difficult, everyday. 
 

whenever I see this junk, I see that the terrorists have won. 

That's exactly how I felt when I saw today's news about there being stronger laws about personal and bag searches at gig venues etc.
Completely undermines civil liberty, and that's not to mention the possibility of it being enforced to smaller venues as well, thereby likely forcing them to close due to associated costs, meaning smaller artists have nowhere to perform/ exhibit their art (which probably doesn't confirm to Tory ideals of culture).

Municipal Waste wrote:

Prosper0 wrote:

Nothing says "we'll beat terrorism" more than making the lives of everyone, more difficult, everyday. 
 

whenever I see this junk, I see that the terrorists have won. 

That's exactly how I felt when I saw today's news about there being stronger laws about personal and bag searches at gig venues etc. Completely undermines civil liberty, and that's not to mention the possibility of it being enforced to smaller venues as well, thereby likely forcing them to close due to associated costs, meaning smaller artists have nowhere to perform/ exhibit their art (which probably doesn't confirm to Tory ideals of culture).

Try being a football fan, it's been going on for decades in that realm. Yesterday's Swansea v Cardiff match had travel restrictions meaning if you lived in Cardiff and were a Swansea fan you had to go all the way to Swansea to travel on official coaches - and had to return on those coaches after the match. And all because a handful of fans fancy a bit of handbags before and after the game.

fennesz wrote:

Really sad to see this.  There's other initiatives in the city to make cycling more problematic - the new barriers on the Addenbrookes guided busway bridge, for eample.  

There's a petition to fix those, started by a local councillor: https://www.change.org/p/countryside-properties-remove-the-cbc-cycle-bar...

https://twitter.com/colinmcgerty/status/1215652741541957636

I doubt it will have any more effect than most petitions, but it's worth a try.

The previous Cambridge MP supports it; I haven't seen anything from the current one: https://twitter.com/julianhuppert/status/1215603013584334849

(And CamCycle: https://twitter.com/camcycle/status/1215640974829006848)

alexuk wrote:

I think that amazing video clearly shows its time for a major re-think of priorities on that road. Time to get the cars out and give the space to cyclists. 

What you are seeing is traffic coming along Silver Street & it then becoming Trumpington street. One of the reasons it is so busy is because it is one of only 2 bridges across the River Cam in the area. The next to the south is Grantchester, with the next to the north being Bridge Street all the way past the colleges. 
 

There is a reason why bike are so widely used, other than the fact that students aren't allowed cars, it's because it's practically always quicker to get around by bike than car. Simply because the infrastructure wasn't designed to cope with the volume of traffic that there is. Even worse because the buildings are hundreds of years old. I loved living in Cambridge & as a cyclist I actually felt reasonably safe but that's because I am confident & experienced. Unfortunately you also get cyclists who are confident but not experienced who come into conflict with the cars, who can be stressed due to the traffic levels. Ironically my father used to work in counter terrorism after 9/11 & had a hand in the design of barriers. They need to get better! 

jhsmith87 wrote:

What you are seeing is traffic coming along Silver Street & it then becoming Trumpington street. One of the reasons it is so busy is because it is one of only 2 bridges across the River Cam in the area. The next to the south is Grantchester, with the next to the north being Bridge Street all the way past the colleges. 

It's not quite that bad - you're forgetting the Fen Causeway to the south.

Otherwise I agree with everything you say (though I haven't been there for twenty years).

Mark B wrote:

jhsmith87 wrote:

What you are seeing is traffic coming along Silver Street & it then becoming Trumpington street. One of the reasons it is so busy is because it is one of only 2 bridges across the River Cam in the area. The next to the south is Grantchester, with the next to the north being Bridge Street all the way past the colleges. 

It's not quite that bad - you're forgetting the Fen Causeway to the south.

I think that's the second bridge "in the area". But most of the cyclists in that video aren't using Silver Street bridge, and the few that are won't be passing the King's Parade barriers.

Silver Street bridge does have restrictions on through motor traffic: https://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/50/article5.html
I have a suspicion the video predates those, though the YouTube upload date is later.

(There's also Garrett Hostel Lane, which isn't a road bridge, but does carry cyclists (and all the college bridges, which generally don't - and they aren't open to the public, but most of the cyclists in the video will be students heading to 9am lectures).)