Flooding update - 22 January

The flood gates are closed across the cycle track.

Cycle route between Fen Drayton and Swavesey.

Water still covering the track near St Ives.

These photos were taken today (22 Jan) to illustrate that the cycle track is still flooded. The gates are closed across the track near St Ives Park & Ride and Swavesey, which should indicate to walkers and cyclists not to proceed any further. But still there are nutters who risk their safety by walking and wheeling their bikes along the grassy strip next to the bus track.
It looks as if it will soon be possible to cycle from St Ives to Fen Drayton Lakes, as the water level is rapidly dropping. You might be able to get through on foot if wearing wellies.
East of Fen Drayton Lakes, the flooding seems likely to persist for sone time (se David Parish’s posts). But it is possible to avoid this stretch by detouring via gravel tracks to Swavesey, and rejoin the busway there.

Another weekend, another diversion

The title of last week's post was rhetorical. For lo, another weekend closure and diversion looms.

On September 14 and 15 the Busway will be closed between St Ives and Swavesey. The nature of the diversionary route - the lack of public roads (!) - means that the Fen Drayton Lakes stop cannot be served at all.

No details have been given of the revised timetable that will result from this quite extensive diversion.

Cambridge Metro

A £4 billion scheme to create a metro system for Cambridge is being talked about again. A ‘compelling’ case has apparently been made for its construction, and we report it here because plans show it taking over the guided busway route. Unlike other metro systems, this one will not be rail-based.

CAM, as it is being  called, will operate with high-quality, zero-emission ‘trackless metro’ vehicles, powered by electric batteries recharged overnight and at route termini throughout the day, without the need for overhead wires. Vehicles would offer a high level of passenger comfort, comparable to trams.

The route will run underground through the city centre.

https://www.transport-network.co.uk/Cambridge-has-compelling-business-case-for-4bn-metro/15752

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.

Closure this weekend - Groundhog Day?

Just three months after the last weekend closure of the Busway between St Ives and Swavesey (see the 14 June post if you need a reminder!), the same stretch is again to be completely closed this coming weekend, according to Stagecoach. As on the last occasion, "extra buses and drivers will be used to minimise the delay although slight delays are expected to occur".

The closure takes place on Saturday and Sunday, 2 and 3 September.

There's no further information about this (or, indeed, any mention at all) on the County Council's Busway web page. However, a spokesman told the Cambridge News: "The busway track will be closed just to the north of the Swavesey stop next weekend while an issue is fixed." And for those who walk or cycle alongside the busway track, all is not lost: "Pedestrians and cyclists should still be able to pass.” What the "issue" causing the closure actually is, that information wasn't in the Cambridge News report.

If anyone is passing by the site over the weekend, I'm sure readers would be interested to learn anything you might be able to find out about the work being undertaken. One correspondent reports that there's a spot "just east of Fen Drayton halt where a beam set has already been excavated and replaced, appears to be a fresh soil heap." Could the County Council's "just to the north of the Swavesey stop" be the same location as my correspondent's "just east of Fen Drayton"?
 

Cars on busway - poor signage?

It's been several months since we had a post relating to cars stuck on the Busway, caught in one of the vehicle traps. But there have been almost regular reports in the local media of such events. One of the issues that keeps coming up is whether or not there's something deficient in the signage, so that drivers don't realise they're entering the Busway.

The latest incursion was yesterday (August 21) at St Ives, just past Waitrose, heading towards the Park & Ride stop. The Cambridge News has provided its usual report of the incident - handily, though, it's included a photo taken by another motorist giving the driver's-eye view leading up to this location.

So follow this link to read the CN report and to view the photo (it's in the middle of the report - ignore the video that's been posted as it offers nothing of interest).

It looks to me as though there are two "no entry" signs - albeit at radically different heights - as well as a "guided bus only" road marking. Presumably further back there will be a "cul de sac" warning sign as well. What other signage to readers of this blog think would be required to have prevented this incident?

Road works affecting busway services 9-12 November

Road works in Houghton Road west of St Ives will cause some delays to evening services on busway route B and cancellation of two journeys on route A.

Full details here.

Bus diversions in St Ives

Due to road works at the junction of Ramsey Road and Houghton Road in St Ives on three evenings next week, buses on routes A and B will be diverted and will not call at stops on Ramsey Road nor the stop beside the shell Garage on Houghton Road.

The times when this diversion will be in place are : Mon 18 Aug 7pm to Tuesday 19 Aug 6am; Tue 19 Aug 7pm to Wed 20 Aug 6am and Wed 20 Aug 7pm to Thu 21 Aug 6 am.

Full details here.

Traffic speeds at Busway/A1096 crossing in St Ives

This week's Hunts Post (25 February, page 15) reveals the effect that the opening of the busway has had on traffic speeds on Harrison Way (the A1096) which links St Ives with the A14. The article is based pm department of Transport figures which show that speed on the A1096 has fallen by 5.8mph since July 2007. Not all the falls in speed can be attributed to the busway, however.

An 'all time low' was reached in January 2013, but since the traffic lights were re-sequenced to prevent pedestrians and cyclists from triggering the lights so frequently, speeds have started to rise again.

To read the article, visit the Hunts Post here.

The article does not, however, deal with other causes of delay on the A1096 such as closure of the A1123 at Earith Bridge when the river is high and St Ives becomes gridlocked. When are politicians going to vote money to raise the A1123 onto stilts at Earith to prevent these disruptive closures?

Nor does the article touch on the innumerable delays caused to bus passengers by  congestion in the narrow streets of St Ives, or in central Cambridge.

Parking charges at busway Park & Ride sites

Parking charges are to start in April at St Ives and Longstanton Park & Ride sites according to an article in the Hunts Post (11 February, page 3).

The daily charge will be £1. There will be monthly ticket (£20) and annual ticket (£230). Prices for longer stay have been published (18-24 hours £10, 24-48 hours £20, 48-72 hours £30).

To prevent 'displacement' parking in Meadow Lane, restrictions will be introduced there.

Also reported by Cambridge News here.

Parking charges at St Ives and Longstanton park and ride sites (2)

A brief follow-up to Andrew's 11 Nov posting. Although the County Council approved the introduction of parking charges at these two sites in November, implementation still requires a Traffic Regulation Order. This was advertised in the Cambridge News on 19 December, and at its meeting next Tuesday the Highways and Community Infrastructure Committee will consider the officer's report on that stage of the process. The TRO generated just 5 objections/representations - they're included in the report, which can be found here. That document also sets out the proposed scale of charges, which the committee also needs to approve (basically: £1 per day, with season tickets offering discounts for regular users; more expensive for longer stays, with a maximum of 72 hours per stay).

Parking charges at St Ives and Longstanton park and ride sites

BBC Look East this evening reveals that Cambridgeshire County Council is introducing parking charges at the Park & Ride sites at St Ives and Longstanton.

Agenda for the relevant committee (Economy and Environment Committee) can be viewed here http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CommitteeMinutes/Committees/AgendaItem.aspx?agendaItemID=10571

The story is also covered by today's Hunts Post (12 November, page 3). Charges are said to be between 50p and £2 per day and will start in April 2015 and are expected to bring in revenue of £120,000 a year. They also plan to introduce double yellow lines on roads near the park & ride sites to prevent motorists parking there. The article states that the St Ives  and Longstanton Park & Ride sites are estimated to cost the County Council £508,00 to run in 2014/15. Concessionary fares cost the County Council almost £1 million in 2013/14.
http://www.huntspost.co.uk/home/e-edition

Cheeky cyclists

This week's Hunts Post (13 August, page 13) report a story about what are described as 'cheeky cyclists' who have been triggering the busway traffic lights at the Harrison Way crossing in St Ives to change for them. These lights were intended for buses. And this has been causing delays to motorists.

Cambridgeshire County Council engineers have now altered the lights so that cyclists can no longer benefit from them. The article says 'The junction had been designed so that cyclists and pedestrians would use a traffic-light controlled crossing - a crossing that does not give priority to the detriment of traffic on Harrison Way'.

Busway service B diversions in St Ives

Several roads in the centre of St Ives are being resurfaced this week, and as a result,  evening buses on route B are diverted. After 7pm they will not be calling at Station Road or St Ives Bus Station.

These buses will be running non stop between St Ives Park & Ride and the first stop on Ramsey Road north of St Audrey's Lane.

According to the second of these notices this arrangement will last until 24th August (except weekends). Presumably that means  buses will run as normal on Saturdays. But what about Fridays?

I travelled back from Cambridge this evening on the 22.33 service. There was nothing at the bus stop in New Square to say there would be a diversion.

When the bus reached St Ives Park & Ride, the driver made no announcement that the bus would not be calling at the Bus Station or other town centre bus stops.

At the time of me writing this, there is nothing on the Stagecoach website about this diversion, and nothing on thebusway.info website either.

Delays to motor traffic at busway crossing in St Ives

This week's Hunts Post ( 6 August, page 6) has a letter form a St Ives residents whose commute by car to Bar Hill is seriously slowed by traffic queues cause by the busway traffic lights on Harrison Way.

The letter writer thinks that there should have been a bridge or subway for pedestrians and cyclists. He suggests (1) installing traffic lights at the Meadow Lane roundabout giving priority to traffic on the bypass rather than traffic emerging from the town centre, and (2) allowing southbound traffic to use the Town Bridge at peak hours.

Charity walk along busway

30 May is the deadline if you want to register for a midnight charity walk along the busway from St Ives. Entry costs £15 and proceeds go to Walking with the Wounded, an armed forces  charity supporting troops who have injured back into civilian life.

Details here.

Bank Holiday bus services on the busway

Whippet are running a Sunday service on Mondays 5th and 16th May. Details here.

Stagecoach will run a Sunday service on Monday 5th May. Details here.

St Ives Bank Holiday Market will be occupying parts of the town centre on 5th May. There is a sign up in The Quadrant advising motorists not to park there on the Bank Holiday Monday as the space will be needed for buses. This implies that once again, the bus station will be taken over by market stalls, and the needs of public transport are sidelined.

Busway services towards Cambridge will probably be departing from Station Road, as they did on Easter Monday. But, as yet, there is no information about where bus from Cambridge will stop.

Traffic congestion in St Ives

Letter in this week's Hunts Post (26 February, pages 6-7) about congestion in St Ives, specifically in North Road, which is the main guided bus route through town.

Anyone who uses North Road will be aware that in several places the roadway is too narrow for guided buses to pass, and elsewhere they can only pass at low speed and with utmost caution. There is a suggestion that the Council missed the opportunity to widen North Road at the time when Woodlands Court was being built.

The writer of the letter, who lives in North Road, suggests a one way system, with buses routed via Broadway (presumably westbound), Ramsey Road and St Audrey's Lane (eastbound). This scenario seems to imply that no buses would use North Road at all.

If the Broadway route cannot be used (and there have been issues regarding the town centre bus gate and markets), then perhaps St Audrey's Lane/ Pig Lane might suffice for eastbound buses with westbound continuing to use North Road.

Hunts Post can be accessed here.

Busway delays due to flooding at Earith

Guided buses are being delayed again as a result of the A1123 road being flooded at Earith where it crosses the Hundred Foot Washes. Traffic that would normally travel via Earith is having to divert via St Ives. This in turn is causing gridlock in St Ives town centre, which is delaying buses, especially those heading towards Cambridge in the morning peak.

The problem has been discussed at length this morning on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on Andie Harper's Midmorning programme. In Andie's absence, the programme today was hosted by Sue Dougan.

One of those interviewed was Ed Goodman, a businessman who lives in St Ives and works in Cambridge at Cambridge Business Lounge. His main complaint is about the lack of information from the bus companies when buses are delayed. The real time display screens at bus stops can't  cope when buses get stuck in a traffic tailback, and waiting passengers are left guessing, and wondering whether to make alternative arrangements or to keep waiting.

Andy Campbell, of Stagecoach, was also on the programme, explaining the problems from his bus company's perspective. I think what he was saying is that the electronic displays know where a bus is in real time, but make a prediction of its arrival time based on the journey time of the previous 3 buses. When questioned about lack of direct updates from Stagecoach to passengers, he revealed that Stagecoach is trialling the use of social media for keeping passengers informed about delays, but this is not yet available in Cambridgeshire. Mr Campbell was asked about the closure of the toilets and waiting room at Longstanton Park & Ride and said he will be contacting the County Council about this matter. The access charges which Stagecoach pays to the County Council for access to the busway are supposed to cover the Longstanton waiting room and toilet facility.

Link to Andie Harper's programme here. The busway discussion starts approx 20 minutes into the programme.

The recurring Earith flooding problem seems to me solvable if the County Council find the money to raise the level of the road for that quarter mile stretch between the two rivers. It would need to be on stilts rather than an embankment to ensure that flood water could pass through freely. A simple sounding solution, but is there the political will?

Stagecoach's new busway timetable

This week's Hunts Post has picked up the story about the extra buses Stagecoach will be running as from 23 February. Hunts Post ( 5 February, page 10). As well as the benefits of having a bus every 5 minutes during the peak, the article notes concerns about traffic congestion in St Ives and on the Harrison Way/busway crossing.

There's also a short piece  on the same page about Andy Campbell, the Managing Director of Stagecoach East, who has had his head shaved for charity, the East Anglia's Children's Hospices.