Signs on (and off) the busway

(1)
In the last week several of these notices have appeared along the length of the busway maintenance track / bridle path / cycleway:

Presumably  asking cyclists to show respect for pedestrians and vice versa.

But most of the signs are mounted high up. About the height of horse riders heads. Is it asking horse riders to show respect for pedestrians and cyclists? Seems unlikely.

A search finds this Twitter article https://twitter.com/gnomeicide/status/574853452414738432  where Richard Taylor says “Cllrs to spend public health cash putting “RESPECT” signs on Cambridge guided busway cycle/pedestrian path”.  Obviously relevant - but I have not found any Council minutes about this.

Anybody know any more?

 (2)

When the busway was built, it was stated that National Cycle Route 51 would be re-routed along the busway. Sure enough, signs soon appeared along the busway with the number 51 on them.

But for the next 3½ years the old signs remained on the route through Fenstanton, Fen Drayton, Swavesey, Longstanton, Oakington, Girton. A few weeks ago these were finally changed to local cycle route 24:

(3)

A new sign has been put up at Swavesey bus-stop by the Swavesey Meridian Magazine, showing a map of the village, and some places of interest.

(4)

I recently found this busy signpost 2/3 of the way through the "public footpath" connecting Trumpington to the busway through the allotments:

The top sign clearly says "Public Footpath". But the bottom one shows cyclists and pedestrians equally and points ahead to the busway (and cycle racks at the bus stop). Are cyclists allowed to ride on this one?

New pedestrian/cyclist links to/from Busway near Cambridge Railway Station

Two new links from near to the Busway at Cambridge Railway Station have recently opened and will benefit pedestrians connecting to/from Busway A, C & R services (as well as cyclists). One is a short link from south of the station to the east side of Hills Rd (likely to be of most use if you're heading to the Leisure Park area); the other is again from the south of the station, but starts south of the Hills Road bridge and goes through to Fitzwilliam Road/Clarendon Road (and from there to Brooklands Avenue).

There's a very handy summary in the current issue of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign Newsletter. More detailed descriptions and maps were provided in issue 117 (the paths numbered 1 and 4). Thanks to the CCC for documenting this and for making the information available.

I've been unable to determine whether these are public rights of way, permissive access paths or have some other legal status. Neither currently show up on the County Council's interactive map as rights of way/permissive paths.

Safety for cyclists

Warning marks have recently been painted on the busway's cycle track at several places, to help cyclists to avoid hazards such as bollards.

At Histon, there is a footpath which crosses the busway. They've painted white lines to try and direct cyclists away from the busway at the crossing.

Footpath from Longstanton to the busway

When you live in the centre of St Ives, it's easy getting to the guided bus. But not so for residents of Longstanton. The busway stop is a good half mile from the edge of the village, and for people who want to walk or cycle to the bus, there is a roadside footpath.  This week's Huntingdon & St Ives News & Crier (8 September, 2011, page 19) draws attention to the poor state of this path which is 'bumpy, and covered with shale, road planings and large stones'. It is unsuitable for pushchairs, mobility scooters or cycles.  A spokesman for the County Council is reported as saying that a path from Longstanton to the busway was never part of the Northstowe (new town) plan, but, as Northstowe has been delayed, the path was laid in the meantime - at a cost of £100,000.