The water level in the River Great Ouse has risen since yeaterday.
The previously flooded section of the cycle track is now even deeper under water - the small concrete bridge over the floodwater channel (immediately east of the Ouse Viaduct) is totally submerged and the nearby brick art installation is under water.
There is now a long flooded section east of Fen Drayton Lakes, so, as at 26 November, the cycle track is effectively out of commission from St Ives to Swavesey.
Luckily I am not going that way this week !
ReplyDeleteBut please keep the updates coming its really appreciated
The water level appears to be up again this morning, and the flooded sections of the cycle track have grown in length.
ReplyDeleteThe Fen Drayton Lakes Bus Stop is now inaccessible from both directions as Holywell Ferry Road is under water.
Well the flooding on the bus way highlights he flooding problem in the area. I am presently having to take the bus from St Ives to Huntingdon, and walking to the stop at the P&R site the traffic is horrendous. I believe the Low road and Earith are both flooded. While waiting the first 2 buses I should have got never turned up, but I luckily got to my destination when a bus finally turned up. The electronic display, says a bus is coming and then it just disappears... And you never see it again ! Not only that, the time is wrong on the display, and yesterday it never gave me my ticket from the machine. So overall after 2 days of using the system, its been a disaster everyday. I am really missing my bike...
ReplyDeleteNo wonder people go by car the whole system is completely unreliable.
Thanks for your comment, Kevin. Every time there is a flood the A1123 is closed at Earith. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/cambridgeshire for up to date bulletins. The knock on effect for St Ives is increased traffic through the town and onto the A14. This in turn is affecting punctuality of the guided busway services which get caught in congestion coming through St Ives. Today I waited almost 20 minutes for the 0722 A to arrive at Bridge Street, St Ives. There was no sign of the 0730 B during that time. My bus arrived in Cambridge 17 minutes late. A colleague of mine was on the 0737 A and told me her bus left St Ives about 0820 ( i.e. 40 minutes late), reaching Cambridge around 0900.
DeleteOur transport infrastructure isn't adequate for the volume of traffic that uses it. A new bridge over the Old Bedford River and the Hundred Foot Drain at Earith would be money well spent, and would prevent the regular that is affecting us at the moment.
As regards people driving, what choice do they have? if you are lucky enough to travel to work on the main Huntingdon-St Ives-Cambridge corridor, you have the option of the bus. But if your journey is in some other direction, there simply aren't good, frequent bus routes. The siting of St Ives Park & Ride isn't too clever either, as all traffic in and out of it funnels through the Meadow Lane roundabout conflicting there with traffic between St Ives and the A14, and causing tailbacks through the town centre that hinder the guided buses.
Would also mention, I was waiting for the bus to go to Huntingdon and 2 cyclists were coming along the section back to St Ives, and both were on the guided bus way tracks, travelling on the east bound sections but going west, obviously thinking they can get out of the way of bus much easier because they can see it early enough. Now call me old fashioned but coming around near the top of the blind bend, a bus hurtling toward you at 60 mph, your going to have be one hell of a cyclist, to see it, stop and get out of the way, cause I am not sure how stable one of those double decker's would be trapped in that guide way with the brakes on full...
ReplyDeleteIf this flooding continues, I really do think some cyclist will get killed by cycling on there. I mean if a road was flooded, you would not cycle down train tracks, why people think the bus way is any different is beyond me....
Those cyclists are a menace. But the only good solution to the problem is to raise the level of the cycle track so that it doesn't flood. Not sure where the money would come from, or even if there exists the political will to find the money.
DeleteWho designed the cycle track? Did they actually have information about water depths along the busway during River Ouse floods? Why did they think that 30 days a year under water was acceptable?
Flooding update - Wednesday 28 November - the water level near my house in St Ives town centre has fallen a few inches, but as yet no sign of water levels going down along the busway. There are 5 flooded sections between St Ives Park & Ride and Fen Drayton Lakes, and 3 between Fen Drayton and Swavesey, with a bit of water spilling onto the cycle track at 2 other places near Swavesey.
ReplyDeletePlease keep the updates coming, this is very useful. Live in Houghton and work in Histon, so not able to cycle or use the back roads via Earith at the moment, and having to wrestle with the A14 and the increased traffic in and around St Ives. As soon as the cycle path has cleared I'll be back on my bike again - so please keep the updates coming as I will be using this to determine when I can get back on my bike.
ReplyDeleteGlad to know my updates are useful. But I am not aware of everything that happens on the busway, so I'd be pleased if people like yourself, who add comments to my blog, would keep on writing. In fact, if any of the 'regulars' are interested in becoming 'contributors' to the blog, do get in touch.
DeleteThanks for the updates, I saw a picture of the track on the twitter feed got the bus way and it is certainly higher than I have ever seen it....
ReplyDeleteI am back down there on the bike the week beginning December, I am not sure it will have gone by then !
Many thanks to Andrew and others for the updates. This morning there was a council guy in hi-viz stationed just after St Ives, refusing to let anyone take their bikes beyond that point. The flooding was the worst I've seen at that location.
ReplyDeleteThank you for these updates, they are brilliant.I intended to cycle from St Ives to Cambridge tomorrow (Saturday).
ReplyDeleteDoes any one have a more recent update?
Well, you'll have to divert via Fenstanton and Swavesey.
DeleteHi, thanks for the updates. Has the situation improved over the weekend? I know that the low road between St Ives and Fenstanton is now clear.
ReplyDeleteThe water level has dropped a bit, but the cycle track is still mostly under water between St Ives Park & Ride and Swavesey.
ReplyDeleteI can update that the water level is fine between St Ives and the lakes bus stop, but from there to Swavesey it is still very flooded.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your update. That's exactly what happened during the previous floods. the water level near the river went down quite fast leaving a long flooded stretch between Fen Drayton Lakes and Swavesey.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for the updates, they are very important before I set off on a long ride.
ReplyDeleteStill flooded for most of the distance between Fen Drayton and Swavesey, though the water level has gone down a bit further.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew.
ReplyDeleteI've just finished reading this piece of news:
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CMSWebsite/Apps/News/Details.aspx?ref=781
These lights will be very helpful in estimating the water depth :-)
How would the lights cope with being submerged for weeks on end, I wonder!
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