Filming on the Busway, and other issues

Local blogger and community activist Richard Taylor reports in a recent blog post how a County Council staff member attempted to prevent him filming on the Busway at Longstanton, claimed that the bridleway (i.e. the cycle/maintenance track) was private property, and refused to identify himself, even though he was seen to be wearing a Council lanyard. Taylor goes on to document an exchange with County Council officers which sheds some light on things, whilst leaving some questions unanswered.

It's impossible to summarise concisely just what happened, so I'm going to chicken out and just offer a link to the blog post so you can read all the details yourselves (and, indeed, view a video of the incident).

Maintenance work and bus diversions in the Histon/Orchard Park area

On Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th January, buses will be diverted near Histon, because of maintenance work on the busway track.

Bus route B will be unable to serve the Cambridge-bound stop at Histon and both the Orchard Park stops. Instead they will us the stop outside the shops near Histon 'station' and teh stop in Histon Road near the junction with Kings Hedges Road.

Route A will be diverted via Orchard Park.

Full details for Stagecoach routes can be found here.

Details for Whippet route C are here.

[Updated] Busway extension to new Railway Station - and the right kind of bollard?

In the last post there was mention of "the recently completed extension of the busway that will serve the new Cambridge North station."

The busway extension is not open yet, and probably won't be until there is a station to go to, but part of the adjacent cycleway/footpath is.

There is a traffic light controlled pedestrian crossing at the end of the current busway to cross Milton Road (in one leg - no intermediate islands). The entrance to the new busway extension is clearly closed with metal fences, but the entrance to the footpath/cycleway is open.

View from Milton Road

The "Busway" is a normal single carriageway road, with a short section of surface-mounted metal guide-rails and a car-trap at the entrance.

Closer view of the bollards

The foot/cycle path is similar to that along the rest of the busway, but the bollards are quite different.

- They are about twice the height,
- Painted black and white
- With a reflector near the top
- And a pair of handles.

The handles appear to be to help lift the bollard out of the socket.

The path continues just round the bend from the furthest point visible in these photos, then you are forced to turn right along a short path to join Nuffield Road.

I wonder if National Cycle Route 51 will be diverted to use this new path?

Update 16 Jan 2016

Today I took some more photos.

Viewed from the side, it is apparent that these bollards are designed to lift out of their socket when unlocked, and the locking flap (shown on left here) hinges down to cover the hole. But to the right of the hole as viewed in above photos, there is a metal eye so that as the flap goes down, the eye protrudes through the hole in the flap so it can be padlocked locked in place.

The next picture shows this eye viewed from ground level. I estimate it is about 25mm high, and about 5mm thick. If you hit that with the edge of your cycle tyre, I suspect it could cause a puncture. Hitting the padlock if it was in place would not be very pleasant either.

Finally, a photo of the bollards where the connecting path from Nuffield Road meets the new busway extension:

These are very similar to the old bollards along the busway, but with proper reflectors at the top, and black/yellow stripes below that.