Any plans to connect Longstanton, Northstowe, and Oakington??

[Berk]

I’m reading on the Cambridge News website that families are starting to arrive and move into the new town of Northstowe. In this case, what road connections does it have, and will it have a connection with its neighbours, unlike Bar Hill and Madingley??

[Al__S]

Northstowe phase 1 is an extension of Longstanton. Phases 2 & 3 will extend that so that it meets Oakington. Effectively the two existing villages will be parts of Northstowe, although I think the way it is being laid out there won't be any way to directly drive between the two village centres and the new town centre between. There will be ample walking and cycling permeability, and connections to the busway.

And the B1050 is being dualed between Bar Hill and Longstanton (with an adjacent cycle way)

[KeithW]

Given that the road between Oakington and Longstanton has been permanently closed I think you can assume the answer is no.

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... d-14611356
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/l ... 4-14732836

Note that Madingley does have connections with nearby villages such as Dry Drayton, Hardwick and Comberton although they may be disrupted by the new A14 works

[M5Lenzar]

Given that the road between Oakington and Longstanton has been permanently closed I think you can assume the answer is no.

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... d-14611356
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/l ... 4-14732836

Note that Madingley does have connections with nearby villages such as Dry Drayton, Hardwick and Comberton although they may be disrupted by the new A14 works

Isn't it amazing? If that many people are using a 'rat run', it is a sign that the main road is not good enough.

But can't be having people taking a perfectly safe short-cut, can we?

[doebag]

Given that the road between Oakington and Longstanton has been permanently closed I think you can assume the answer is no.

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... d-14611356
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/l ... 4-14732836

Note that Madingley does have connections with nearby villages such as Dry Drayton, Hardwick and Comberton although they may be disrupted by the new A14 works

Isn't it amazing? If that many people are using a 'rat run', it is a sign that the main road is not good enough.

But can't be having people taking a perfectly safe short-cut, can we?

I don't think it is as simple as that. The road was originally the B1050, but was cut short when RAF Oakington was built, so there might be ownership/right of way issues. I have never known the road to be open to all traffic, either when the site was Oakington Barracks or the Immigration centre.

[KeithW]

Isn't it amazing? If that many people are using a 'rat run', it is a sign that the main road is not good enough.

But can't be having people taking a perfectly safe short-cut, can we?

I don't think it is as simple as that. The road was originally the B1050, but was cut short when RAF Oakington was built, so there might be ownership/right of way issues. I have never known the road to be open to all traffic, either when the site was Oakington Barracks or the Immigration centre.

It was understandable that the B1050 was cut short after RAF Oakington was built but rather less so that it was not reopened when the station was closed. Forcing local traffic to use a strategic road that had long term roadworks on instead struck me then as a mistake. Yes the road was inadequate but given both the existing situation AND long term developments either upgrading it or providing an alternative link seems preferable to simple closure.

Right of way issues do not seem to exist, in fact the restriction on motor traffic was imposed in the form of a TRO issued by Cambridge County Council.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... sthrough=1

The real reason seems to be that the house builders developing the site wanted to use it as an Access Road.

https://www.sclibdems.org.uk/parish0518

[Al__S]

In the final layout, the "local traffic" won't use the A14(M) as the Dry Drayton junction will be stopped up, it can use the new A1307 instead. Meanwhile it makes good modern sense not to have a road cut through a town- for the distances involved, the vast majority can use their own two feet, two or three wheels with pedal power (and limited electric assist) or electric power (mobility scooter).

[Berk]

In the final layout, the "local traffic" won't use the A14(M) as the Dry Drayton junction will be stopped up, it can use the new A1307 instead. Meanwhile it makes good modern sense not to have a road cut through a town- for the distances involved, the vast majority can use their own two feet, two or three wheels with pedal power (and limited electric assist) or electric power (mobility scooter).

The question is how far will it go. What today may be a mile, or 2 miles, could quite easily become 5 miles, and that could just as easily increase to 8 to 10 miles.

Don’t ban cars until you provide frequent public transport.

[Al__S]

in this case it's about 1.8 miles straight line or 3.6 by the driveable route.

[c2R]

This sort of thing is really annoying and in my view is the wrong way to resolve this issue - it doesn't help delivery drivers, home carers, and many others who will end up driving additional miles wasting fuel and causing additional pollution as the new town isn't designed with the ability to drive easily from one side to another.

While I'm all for designing new towns around people and other NMUs; using things like home zones, pedestrian priority, making necessary vehicles drive miles around the outside of the town and then back in again to move from one street to another seems very short sighted. There's enough of this already in Cambridge where barriers in the more expensive residential areas to prevent rat running increase the amount of traffic on the inner ring road (and past other people's cheaper houses) because all the road users mentioned above will need to drive out, around, and back in again.

It also means longer journeys for those people who aren't lucky enough to still be able to walk. While I often walk to my nearest shop (if I happen to be at home when it is open), elderly people who live near me and have reduced mobility now drive. The car allows them to retain as much independence as they are able to and means that they can still go shopping on their own. Presumably the local shops in Northstowe will either be on one side of the barrier or another, although hopefully the designers will make them disabled accessible from both...

[RichardA35]

The question is how far will it go. What today may be a mile, or 2 miles, could quite easily become 5 miles, and that could just as easily increase to 8 to 10 miles.

Don’t ban cars until you provide frequent public transport.

Although it is slightly out of the villages' centres, the much heralded guided busway provides exactly that to link into Cambridge.

[Euan]

Apparently the Cambridge Busway has recently only been receiving around 55% of the projected 20000 daily journeys on the route as a result of Northstowe's construction falling behind schedule. On top of that, it seems to be the case that some of the new houses being built as part of the current phase of the construction will not be able to be occupied until the completion of the A14C2H project hopefully at some point in 2020. So it may be a couple of years yet before the busway lives up to its expectations in terms of passenger usage.

[KeithW]

In the final layout, the "local traffic" won't use the A14(M) as the Dry Drayton junction will be stopped up, it can use the new A1307 instead. Meanwhile it makes good modern sense not to have a road cut through a town- for the distances involved, the vast majority can use their own two feet, two or three wheels with pedal power (and limited electric assist) or electric power (mobility scooter).

There is a reason that traditional villages are linked by minor roads and lanes to their neighbours. Deliberately severing such links strikes me as arrogant and a mistake. The distance from the centre of Oakington to Longstanton via the A14/A1307 is 4.6 miles, using the airfield road its 1.7 miles. I live in a community that grew from just such a village and the next one is about 1.5 mile distance, If somebody cut the lane that connects them and forced me to travel twice as far to see my friends and relatives or use the shop there I would be hacked off to say the least.

I suggest you take a look at the roads that lead from those villages to the A14/A1307
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.25160 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.26393 ... 6656?hl=en

Note that while the A1307 will be a LAR to the north of the A14 main line there IS a junction at Bar Hill and we can expect considerable levels of traffic along it between the Supermarket and businesses in Bar Hill and the new housing developments. Added to that the A1307 will become a commuter road from Huntingdon and Godmanchester to Cambridge which I suspect will be quite busy enough without adding local traffic which has been deliberately forced to use it for some abstract reason. I suspect the councillors and developers will face sufficient local protest to make opening a direct link inevitable if the councillors want to retain their seats.

[KeithW]

The question is how far will it go. What today may be a mile, or 2 miles, could quite easily become 5 miles, and that could just as easily increase to 8 to 10 miles.

Don’t ban cars until you provide frequent public transport.

Although it is slightly out of the villages' centres, the much heralded guided busway provides exactly that to link into Cambridge.

'slightly out of the villages centres' is an understatement, as I recall from Longstanton its around a mile to the Park and Ride site and bus stop. It really isn't a practical way to get from Longstanton to Oakington for the elderly and infirm who are the ones most likely to need to use public transport. There is of course no conventional bus from Oakington to Longstanton as there is no direct road.

[mikehindsonevans]

Apparently the Cambridge Busway has recently only been receiving around 55% of the projected 20000 daily journeys on the route as a result of Northstowe's construction falling behind schedule. On top of that, it seems to be the case that some of the new houses being built as part of the current phase of the construction will not be able to be occupied until the completion of the A14C2H project hopefully at some point in 2020. So it may be a couple of years yet before the busway lives up to its expectations in terms of passenger usage.

"If you don't build it, they won't come". (With apologies to "Field of Dreams"). Also eliminates whinges about "overcrowded buses".

Surely it is better to have the infrastructure - if it can be funded and provided - before the first poor sod walks out of their brand new front door to find that the much-vaunted facilities are "in phase two"???

We have used the Cambridge Busway over the years and it gets us from a cheap car park at the western end of the line into Cambridge and back without having to run over cyclists - bliss!