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Cambridge Opens England's First Cycle Street on Adams Road

A Dutch-style redesign aims to reduce collisions and make walking and cycling the default mode on one of the city’s busiest cycling corridors.

Overview

  • The Greater Cambridge Partnership has completed the Adams Road rebuild, removing most on-street parking, widening footpaths, adding raised crossings and reconfiguring junctions so cyclists and pedestrians have priority over motor traffic.
  • The scheme cost about £2.4 million and followed roughly seven months of construction to transform the roughly 500-metre route used by an estimated 3,000 cyclists during peak periods.
  • Motorists can still use Adams Road but must give way to cyclists and travel at lower speeds, a change meant to cut incidents such as 'dooring' and collisions caused by blind spots.
  • Local reaction is mixed: supporters and resident representatives say the changes improve safety for children, older people and people with mobility aids, while critics call the spend a 'vanity project' and point to continuing pothole and disabled-access concerns.
  • Adams Road forms part of the Comberton Greenway and the citywide greenways network, and the project’s outcome will likely shape future active-travel schemes and scrutiny of maintenance and spending across Cambridge.