Sunday, 1 April 2018

Busway cycle track flooded


The busway cycle track isflooded between St Ives Park & Ride and Fen Drayton. This is due to high water levels in the river Great Ouse.

45 comments:

  1. Still flooded today ( Monday 2nd April).

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  2. The water is deeper this morning (3 April). Cycletrack flooed at several places between St Ives P& R and Fen Drayton Lakes, but dry between Fen Drayton and Swavesey.

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  3. Thanks for the update Andrew

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  4. it's closed, which means no one should be going down there, either get the bus or alternate route.

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  5. Does anyone know if the flooding has gone down enough for it to open any time soon? Need to burn off the christmas hibernation belly fat ;)

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  6. Is it okay to use yet? I want to cycle today

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  7. I’m away from St Ives right now so unable to go and check the water levels.

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  8. It was still heavily flooded (at least 1ft deep for long stretches) between Swavesey and St Ives last night.

    It's possible to walk along the top of the embankments, but the surface is too soft/lumpy for road bikes without pushing.

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  9. Far worse now - deep water between Swavesey and Fen Drayton. Water almost at top of a 5 bar gate in the field beside Trout Pond. Last time it flooded like that it was closed for several weeks.

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  10. The water in the Dolphin car park is going down, you can now see the bottom of the car stranded there. Going via the Low road is no fun at all on the bike...

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  11. Sunday 8th April. Water levels have dropped and it is now possible to cycle between St Ives Park & Ride and Fen Drayton Lakes. However, there is a lot of debris lying on the track, and there is a puddle just next to the small concrete bridge.
    There is deep water between Fen Drayton Lakes and Swavesey, and on previous experience, this might take a few weeks to recede.

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  12. The longest section of the dips after Fen Drayton Lakes must be under at least 3 foot, but its going down cause the debris is starting to be let behind on the entry and exit hilly bits , but what a mess!

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  13. Will the council clear the debris, puncture crazy.

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    1. Get in touch with your local county councillor about this.

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  14. Update as of 12th April:

    There's water about 2" deep near the small bridge past the viaduct, and flotsam on other areas, but I was able to cycle continuously from St Ives to Fen Drayton Lakes.

    The deep section on the Swavesey side is still there, and there's another 1.5"-deep patch in the closest dip to Swavesey that I don't remember being flooded last week.

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  15. Anyone know if it has dried out yet?

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  16. Unfortunately, it has not completely dried out yet. You can get from St Ives to Fen Drayton Lakes OK (negotiating a few bits of debris). But from there to swavesy there is still a lot of water lying on the track. I cycled to Cambridge today, and diverted from Fen Drayton Lakes via Swavesey Windmill. This added about 10 minutes onto the journey.

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  17. Thanks Andrew - I am leading a group of people that way on Saturday so hope it has dried by then....I'll maybe ask again on Friday?

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  18. I’ll be cycling that way tomorrow and will give an update.

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  19. Thursday 19th. Still flooded near Swavesey, approx a foot deep. So my advice to the Saturday group is to plan an alternative route between Swavesey and Fen Drayton Lakes.

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  20. Crikey, wonder if there is a drain or something blocked.... - Thanks we will turn off after the MG place and go via the windmill - unless we see people coming towards us that say it is clear.... THANKS AGAIN!

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Not a blocked drain. Just a result of the topography. The flooded stretches near the river fill up quick and then recede quick. But the current flooded stretch seems to fill up, then take ages to empty. It would have been much better if they'd raised the cycle track up on an embankment in the first place.

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  21. Any further updates on the flood?

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  22. As of yesterday still under at least a foot of water
    Saw one guy cycle thru it but if you want dry feet it’s not going to happen!

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  23. By the time we got there on Saturday there was a well trodden/ridden strip on the grass at the top of the bank that made it possible to ride along and avoid the flooded bit - bumpy but still doable on a road bike, would need to be careful if a bus came past though...

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    1. This blog does not encourage people to walk or cycle along the grassy banks. Anyone who does so, does it at their own risk.

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    2. The plan to 'solve' the flooding problem, as set out in the council's Greenways report, is...to pave the 1m strip on top of the banks for use when the track's flooded.

      Yes it'll be a bit less slippery, but won't do much for clearance from buses...

      Page 15 of https://www.greatercambridge.org.uk/download/1323/Appendix%2013%20St%20Ives.pdf

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  24. Less than a four to go
    Spoke to someone this morning who said the low tides due will help drain it from the land

    The council have cleared the debris from the other areas which was surprising!

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    1. That's because I reported it to highways department, they arranged for the team at longstanton to come and clear. Asked them pump the water out as well but they passed the buck to RSPB!

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  25. Thanks for highlighting the existence of this report. Providing a1-metre paved path at the top of the embankment, in my opinion, would not be safe. The alternative, with a 1.5 metre path supported on gabions might just about do, but fencing it off from the bus track would probably be necessary. I wonder if any of this will materialise.

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  26. I was in contact with the council earlier and they talked about options in the report that you have highlighted.

    I certainly think that the 1.5m or 2m wide option would be safest. A 1m path so close to the busway carries with it a large amount of risk.

    We know what it is like to have a bus pass close to us on the existing cycle path – the draft created can be significant and therefore we move away from the busway when we see an approaching vehicle on the track. If this happened to a cyclist or pedestrian on a narrow path, at the top of an incline without an opportunity to move away from the track, I would imagine it will only be a matter of time before an accident / injury were to occur.

    On the subject of debris, I was told that "The Busway Operations Team are responsible for sweeping any debris away - hopefully they will do that, but I guess the water will recede very gradually so it may be tricky to choose when best to do this"

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  27. Its about 6-7 inches now, cycled thru, got a little wet, but cycleable if you don't care for your bike!

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  28. Cycled through the last patch at Swavesey just now - it's certainly not 6-7in, more like 2 at the most (perhaps that should have been cm?).

    Water comes up to slightly below, or at most touching, my pedals. Feet stayed dry. There's quite a bit of debris on the bottom.

    As mentioned above, the debris on the section toward St Ives has been cleared; I'm favourably surprised!

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  29. Any update on this? Looking to cycle from St Ives to Cambridge on Thursday 3rd May

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    1. i haven’t been along there for several days, but the most recent report was that the water level was down to about 2 inches, so should be possibke to cycle through slowly. Can you update uson Thursday?

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  30. I cycled thru it yesterday
    After the rainfall over the weekend it has not really flooded but easily cycle thru but I would not take my good bike thru it as it’s very dirty etc
    I reckon about another week for it go and dry out

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  31. Tuesday evening there were several dry patches on the busway side of the track, but the ditch side was still deep enough for some ducks to swim in.

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  32. really starting to clear out from the edges now, I think by Monday there will be a dry route, but not all the water will be gone, but at least its almost there.

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  33. Came through today, and despite the heatwave there is still a 5ish meter long section of water that extends across the full width of the path. Only a inch or so deep on the edge closest to the busway, so perfectly navigable. Glad I had my mudguards on though.

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  34. There is about 4 metres of water still to drain away! So you can cycle thru easily but if you want to keep your bike clean like I do you can just get off


    It’s been a long 6 weeks!

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  35. Last night dry route right through, but in one point only about 1/3 of full width. Some debris but the worst on the slopes at end has been cleared.

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