That's what it was like, with 3 deaths and some serious injuries.
The Chisholm Trail that runs close to the railway between Cambridge North and Coldhams Lane is an example that is both functional and charming. The DNA path next to the railway between the Biomedical Campus and Shelford is also both functional and charming. Both of these can be seen from the train.
www.bbc.co.uk
Whilst the detail is lacking in the report, it appears that the incident occurred at the point where the busway is on a bridge over Telford Way. The footway is not separated from the busway by a fence on that stretch.Sadly there was a fatality on the Luton-Dunstable busway last week see here.
Crash on Luton-Dunstable guided busway kills young man
Police describe the death as a "deeply tragic incident".
www.bbc.co.uk
I expect this doesn't include the cost of the additional bus services for employees on the Biomedical Campus that operated while the busway was closed.
www.bbc.co.uk
Oh yeah, who's going to bring that prosecution to the courts and under which law?
Most road works are done by utility companies such as gas, water and electricity.
That is really disappointing - is there any information as to when the safety works will be complete, and speed restrictions can be lifted?And now Stagecoach are reducing service frequency on the busway because extended journey times, resulting from the safety work, have led to a significant drop in passenger numbers:
'Significant' drop off in Cambridgeshire busway passengers
Bus frequencies will decrease after a reduction in people using the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway.
There are no roadworks only affecting buses. There is installation of safety fences on the guided busway, and reduced speed limits on the guided busway while the safety work is being done.
The bizarre feature of this is that the safety works are supposed to be complete by the end of 2026 but the Stagecoach service reductions start at the beginning of 2027.
Cambridgeshire County Council has already been prosecuted and fined for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The installation of the safety fences, and the speed reductions, are in response to that, so that they are no longer in breach of the law.
That is bizarre!
That is really disappointing. I wonder if there would be options to speed up other sections to make up the difference (e.g., increasing the speed limit on "plain line" sections after the fences are up to more than the old speed limit, more bus lanes in Cambridge to speed up the bus service after it leaves the busway, or measures that reduce dwell times).
The guided busway isn't a road, so any work on it can't be road works.
The legal technicalities are very important, as the council found out.
The guided busway does not look like a road. I don't know many roads that are mostly grass with frequent concrete obstacles. In Cambridge not looking like a road is essential to stop cyclists from using it.If it looks like one and quacks like one...
In Cambridge a lot of journeys could transfer to cycling, especially as there has been almost no rain for months.
I wonder whether bus travel has been hit by changes in travel patterns following the opening of Cambridge South.
Which just means creeping slowly along the A14 instead.
Stagecoach are probably right - who wants to sit in a slow baking hot bus when a nice airconditioned car is a much nicer option when outside temperatures are reaching 35°
It looks like a plateway to me. Just using concrete rather than cast iron.If it looks like one and quacks like one...
I don't think these technicalities of what it legally is in any way affect the point which was being made, which is that these works will be causing people to switch to driving.
What's that got to do with the question posed in post #157, which was clearly referring to the busway works as 'roadworks'. The council was prosecuted for matters concerning the safety of the busway itself, not the resultant traffic on (other) roads.
The question that was posed was about the local authority being prosecuted for accidents as a result of additional car journeys being taken.
... is a nonsense. The council is on the hook for the busway as they designed and maintained it and it was found that it was these issues were the cause and were so liable.
It has every relevance, because the work being done on the busway is to rectify where it was found to be in breach of the law. It is work that the council has to do to operate the busway within the law, and it could be prosecuted again if it continues to operate the busway without doing it.
Which is the point I was making. Thank you for the detail you have added.
And that would be for a failure to make the busway safe, not for causing accidents on roads elsewhere.
I don't think it does.