Green Dragon Bridge - footway and cycling improvements

June 2015 Public Consultation

Green Dragon Bridge is a footbridge which connects the north and east of the city, spanning from Water Street to Stourbridge Common. The bridge forms part of an attractive route for pedestrians and cyclists and has been used for decades by both. However, due to the narrow width of the bridge and restricted visibility on the approaches the current situation is unsatisfactory for all users and conflicts occur. City and County Council Officers along with local Councillors, local residents and cycling groups have met to discuss the issues and possible solutions which are to be financed by a jointly-funded cycleways City and County Council budget. Currently, the installation of a new, wider bridge is not possible due to funding constraints. Alternative options of erecting barriers on the approaches to the bridge to prevent cycling would deny access to mobility scooters and make it difficult, if not impossible for those in wheelchairs, with double pushchairs and wheeling bicycles, cargo bikes and trailers. However, we are proposing a number of changes to improve safety on the approaches to the bridge for all users. These are shown on the inside page, and there is a survey on the back page for you to feed back your comments to us.

Please give us your views

Having read the information in this leaflet please respond either by filling in an on-line questionnaire

at: www.cambridge.gov.uk or by filling in this form and posting it to the Freepost address at: Cycling Consultations, Freepost RTGU-HXRA-REBZ, Cambridge City Council, Mill Road Depot,

Cambridge, CB1 2AZ by 28th July 2015 . For further information please contact

clare.rankin@cambridge.gov.uk

Project Delivery & Environment Team ● Streets and Open Spaces ● Cambridge City Council

Green Dragon Bridge

B. Stourbridge Common side:

1. Do you support any changes to this side of the bridge?

2. If you support changes, do you support:

3. If you support Option 2 please indicate your preference for gate/cattle grid arrangement – Option A or Option B?

Please add any additional comments.

YES NO

Option A Option B

A. Water Street side:

1. Do you support the proposal for this side of the bridge?

2. Do you support the additional works proposed as Option 2?

3. Do you also support the additional works proposed as Option 3?

Please add any additional comments.

YES NO

YES

NO

YES

NO YES

NO

Option 1

Option 2

(c) Crown copyright and database right 2014. Ordnance Survey Licence No. 100019730(c) Crown copyright and database right 2014. Ordnance Survey Licence No. 100019730

YES

NO

C. If funding became available would you support replacing the existing bridge with a wider one?

Yes No

As part of the scheme we are also proposing to remove the ‘Cycling Dismount’ signs at both ends of the bridge which are advisory and cannot be enforced and replace them with ‘Cyclists give way to pedestrians’ signs.

Consultation Results The consultation results will be available to view on the project webpage within one month of the closing date (28th July 2015).

Our Proposal

We are proposing options for improving visibility on the bridge approaches for all users with the aim of reducing conflict.

On the Stourbridge Common side the options are:

1. Do the minimum:

remove the vegetation adjacent to the bottom of the ramp and approach to improve visibility

hard surface some of the muddy area

near the bottom of the ramp where pedestrians cut across and to give users more space to pass one another.

(Estimated cost: £8,200.)

2. Straighten and widen the approach by moving the ramp, with options for pedestrian gates and

cattle grids as follows: (estimated cost:: Option A — £90,000, Option B — £84,000)

Option A: widen to 5m with double cattle grid and 2 gates

5m

Option B: widen to 3.8m with single cattle grid and 2 gates

On the Water Street side we are proposing to: 1. Install double yellow lines and put in flush kerbs

at the exit to the bridge, to encourage cyclists not to cut the corner when approaching from the east. (Estimated cost:: £2,700.)

In addition we are also proposing the following options:

2. Removal of the central railings currently at the bottom of the bridge and in their place installation of a restricted width entry/exit for cyclists (minimum width of 1m either side of bollard), to keep speeds low and keep cyclists in the line of sight, with two pedestrian gates either side — an arrangement similar to that on the Stourbridge Common side: (Estimated cost: £2,700).

3. Creation of an area of shared space between the Green Dragon pub and the bridge/pub garden in order to highlight the cross movements of pedestrians and cyclists. This would feature double yellow lines on both sides of the road and a different surfacing material (similar to the proposals for Water Street/Fen Road which were consulted on recently) and the area could also be raised slightly. (Estimated cost:: £30,000.)

flush kerb

double yellow lines

3.8m