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Ruperts Trooper wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 08:20
reinstating the St.Ives-Cambridge section would be easier, along the busway which was originally the railway!
Until you get to the Milton Road junction (I think there used to be a level cross there which wouldn't fly today)
kiran_mk2 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 12:18
It's strange - that section had first one land coned off and then the other. Now it's two lanes but the 40 limit remains. No limit going westbound though (until just before the Godmanchester turning). I know that the eastbound section around the first Fenstanton junction is prone to flooding in lane 2 in heavy rain (it used to be dispersed by the volume of traffic in the A14 days) and initially I thought that's what the lane closure and limit were for.
And a couple of days after I posted this, the 40 mph signs have popped up westbound just before the Fenstanton junction too
MotorwayGuy wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 15:47
40 is ridiculous and I can imagine over 50% of the traffic using it is exceeding that. It makes me laugh that a D2 with no or poor barriers is considered dangerous at above 40 but an S2 is apparently fine at 60.
But yet we have sections of national speed limit dual carriageways with no barriers….. A165 Brandesburton and A650 M1 towards Wakefield to mention a few!
The lack of barrier on A31 Alton Bypass. always seems strange though
The busway links St Ives to Cambride. If it was replaced by a railway it would down grade the public transport links.
The busway goes through the city centre, trains will never.
The busway serves the regional college, two 6th form colleges and 2 hospitals as well as 2 science parks. Trains won't stop that often.
The busway offers access from large housing developments in St Ives and Huntingdon so people don't have to make separate journeys from home to the station. It also serves Northstowe which is growing.
Busway buses run every 5 minutes or so in the peak periods, I doubt trains would.
Cambs CC is probably going to be paying interest on the busway for the rest of my life.
Now, if there were trams instead of buses some of these problems wouldn't exist.
Now the busway isn't perfect. It has insufficient capacity in the rush hour despite buses every few minutes. I can ride my bike faster than the bus in the rush hour. There are problems with safety of cyclists on the parallel cycle path.
MotorwayGuy wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 15:47
40 is ridiculous and I can imagine over 50% of the traffic using it is exceeding that. It makes me laugh that a D2 with no or poor barriers is considered dangerous at above 40 but an S2 is apparently fine at 60.
But yet we have sections of national speed limit dual carriageways with no barriers….. A165 Brandesburton and A650 M1 towards Wakefield to mention a few!
The lack of barrier on A31 Alton Bypass. always seems strange though
A length of the nearby Farnham Bypass recently had a crash barrier installed in the central reserve for the first time, and at the same time Surrey CC reduced the limit from NSL to 50. Presumably you can’t install the barrier without then re-assessing the road and re-assessing it put it in the 50 bracket.
But yet we have sections of national speed limit dual carriageways with no barriers….. A165 Brandesburton and A650 M1 towards Wakefield to mention a few!
The lack of barrier on A31 Alton Bypass. always seems strange though
A length of the nearby Farnham Bypass recently had a crash barrier installed in the central reserve for the first time, and at the same time Surrey CC reduced the limit from NSL to 50. Presumably you can’t install the barrier without then re-assessing the road and re-assessing it put it in the 50 bracket.
Probably the containment class that drives that - not all restraint systems are designed for a 70 mph impact. The reason? Cheaper.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
B1040 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 09:19
The A1307 has been detrunked.
Cambridgeshire CC celebrated this by extending to 40 limit around Godmanchester all the way from Huntingdon to the far side of Fenstanton.
I guess it's down to dodgy safety barriers that won't be replaced for years.
It's not so much the limit but the vulnerability I feel when many people aren't obeying the limit
New signs up this week stating that the reduced speed limit is due to the risk of flooding. There are certainly a few spots that are prone (under the Fenstanton junction bridge westbound and the curve by Fenstanton eastbound) and there is still plenty of flooding in the fields around the Hemmingfords so I will be interested to see if the limits are relaxed back to NSL once the wet weather ends.
dave55uk wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 22:52
There was one until it got closed. Then some daft council went and spent an utter fortune covering most of the rail line in concrete.
We’re lucky it didn’t become a new motorway…
A more direct link between Cambridge and Huntingdon should be built along the line of the former St Ives branch though. To hell with the busway - install bus lanes on the A1307!
Even without the changes to the road network, the St.Ives-Huntingdon railway would have to be completely rebuilt as it was originally built to a very light standard on wooden trestles across the Great Ouse floodplain and most, or all, of the bridges have been removed - reinstating the St.Ives-Cambridge section would be easier, along the busway which was originally the railway!
That cycleway is very prone to flooding though. I know because in Dec 2019 I was riding an audax and the organiser's route check showed deep flooding. They provided an alternative, but zigzagging around back roads after riding across from Bristol was no more appealing... so I headed for the then-new A1307.
Didn't realise that it wasn't actually completed between Bar Hill and Swavesey, with the official diversion onto the new A14... As it was me and the little ragtag bunch tagging along with my idea got through to spitting distance of Swavesey on fresh tarmac, and then managed to piece together a route through the cones.
kiran_mk2 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 13:04
New signs up this week stating that the reduced speed limit is due to the risk of flooding. There are certainly a few spots that are prone (under the Fenstanton junction bridge westbound and the curve by Fenstanton eastbound) and there is still plenty of flooding in the fields around the Hemmingfords so I will be interested to see if the limits are relaxed back to NSL once the wet weather ends.
Spoiler: they won't.
Local councils don't like increasing speed limits, especially if it increases wear and risks damage to existing unsuitable barriers. With a roads budget remaining of 50 pence most years, it's no surprise.
B1040 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 14:00
The busway links St Ives to Cambride. If it was replaced by a railway it would down grade the public transport links.
The busway goes through the city centre, trains will never.
The busway serves the regional college, two 6th form colleges and 2 hospitals as well as 2 science parks. Trains won't stop that often.
The busway offers access from large housing developments in St Ives and Huntingdon so people don't have to make separate journeys from home to the station. It also serves Northstowe which is growing.
Busway buses run every 5 minutes or so in the peak periods, I doubt trains would.
Cambs CC is probably going to be paying interest on the busway for the rest of my life.
Now, if there were trams instead of buses some of these problems wouldn't exist.
Now the busway isn't perfect. It has insufficient capacity in the rush hour despite buses every few minutes. I can ride my bike faster than the bus in the rush hour. There are problems with safety of cyclists on the parallel cycle path.
Do you believe they'll ever start running trams? They seem to think that allocating finance for this is not the most necessary thing. Although everyone says that this is more environmentally friendly, and many locals would prefer not to breathe exhaust fumes.
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Last edited by lucassan on Mon Apr 01, 2024 12:17, edited 1 time in total.