England's first cycle street

[Magdalia]

England's 'first official Cycle Street' being built in Cambridge

It aims to make one of the city's busiest routes safer by giving cyclists priority over motorists.

www.bbc.co.uk

A road is being transformed into "England's first official Cycle Street" to give cyclists and pedestrians priority over motorists.

Adams Road is one of the busiest cycle routes in Cambridge, used daily by about 3,000 cyclists at peak times and connecting the West Cambridge site to the city centre.

The redesign would see on-road parking removed, junctions reconfigured to slow traffic, and raised crossings and wider footpaths installed for pedestrian safety.

 

[ABB125]

Something similar is happening in Sheffield on Pinstone Street - at least, it was planned to happen when I was working on the project!

I think this is the public information about it: https://haveyoursay.sheffield.gov.uk/connecting-sheffield-city-centre

What's happening on Pinstone Street?

We started work in February 2025 to make walking, wheeling and cycling easier on Pinstone Street which includes investing in making the current temporary infrastructure permanent.

We've been replacing some kerbing near the Town Hall, and we're now working to install the cycle route here too.

 

[D1511]

So, we're finally getting some fietstraats like the Netherlands, with the usual 25 year time lag between us and the Dutch.

 

[Crithylum]

Given that I am going to be cycling along this road every week, I am more excited by the resurfacing in the CGI than the actual improvements. It is already much nicer to cycle on than the bicycle gutters on the connecting Grange road. The only options to access this road from the east are Grange road, and a shared path which isn’t great to cycle along during busy times.

 

[johncrossley]

Will motorists actually know they are supposed to give priority to cyclists? Even if they know, will they actually take any notice?

 

[SynthD]

There are many generous paths in some estates, eg Woodpecker Road in Deptford. https://maps.app.goo.gl/sSG2oMH5MFc7iCB3A It shouldn’t count as it’s not a highway for cars, but it serves the same purpose.

 

[styles]

Will motorists actually know they are supposed to give priority to cyclists? Even if they know, will they actually take any notice?

This kind of shift just takes time. On day 1 of such infrastructure being built? No chance. After some years? Maybe, especially locals.

 

[Mag_seven]

Given that I am going to be cycling along this road every week, I am more excited by the resurfacing in the CGI than the actual improvements. It is already much nicer to cycle on than the bicycle gutters on the connecting Grange road. The only options to access this road from the east are Grange road, and a shared path which isn’t great to cycle along during busy times.

Thread reopened for an update from @Crithylum.

 

[Crithylum]

Cycled down this yesterday for the first time since construction finished. I would say the vibes were slightly better than I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting much. The biggest improvements have been the new surfacing, as well as the reduction in the number of large metal boxes on the side of the road.

Not sure if this is good value for money.

 

[Magdalia]

BBC News has a short video clip here:

'England's first cycle street' opens in Cambridge

The £2.4m project is part of a wider so-called "greenway" scheme to improve cycling in Cambridge.

www.bbc.co.uk

A road which is claimed to be England's first "cycle street" has opened to the public.

The £2.4m project on Adams Road in the west of Cambridge - said to be used by 3,000 cyclists per day - gives cyclists and pedestrians priority over motorists.

 

[dcbwhaley]

There are many generous paths in some estates, eg Woodpecker Road in Deptford. https://maps.app.goo.gl/sSG2oMH5MFc7iCB3A It shouldn’t count as it’s not a highway for cars, but it serves the same purpose.

Whe the highway Code was updated to give pedestrians priority when crossing side roads motorists were very good at doing so. But now we are back to jump out of the way when a car wants to turn right.
I suspect that adherence to pedestrian priority on these roads will be the same
sclerotic
My neighbour works for the Highway Agency and his attitude is that roads are for motor vehicles which arre the lifeblood of the economy. Cyclists and pedestrians are sclerotic obstructions to that lifeblood and should behave accordingly

 

[ABB125]

My neighbour works for the Highway Agency and his attitude is that roads are for motor vehicles which arre the lifeblood of the economy. Cyclists and pedestrians are sclerotic obstructions to that lifeblood and should behave accordingly

That is arguably true for the the roads that Highways England are responsible for...

 

[Cletus]

You Tuber Auto Shenanigans has recently uploaded a video about the street.

 

[Noddy]

You Tuber Auto Shenanigans has recently uploaded a video about the street.

This project seems to have been pretty mismarketed. Basically the road as been completely rebuilt with much wider pavements for pedestrians, who seem to be the main beneficiaries of the project. Jon claims that it would have been far cheaper to just widen the pavements but I strongly doubt this is the case-it still would have been expensive because doing any infrastructure project is expensive in this crowded country. There would still be all the drains to sort, countless services to avoid and/or reroute, road closures, and we have an expensive labour force. On top of this it’s highly likely that the works would end up damaging the existing road surface which was already beginning to break up back in 2022 looking at street view:


(Image taken from Google street view shows the road surface with various cracks beginning to appear).

So they’d probably have had to completely rebuild the road as well anyway, as the works to widen the pavements would have likely caused to further slumping of the road and breaking up of the surfaces.