Author: Clerk

Willingham News September 2019

B1050

James Broder from County Highways attended the September meeting. When pressed about the appallingly dangerous state of the B1050 Shelford Road he was only able to offer further patching, with a vague reference to a ‘permanent solution’ at some distant time and no prospect of a lorry ban. The council reiterated its deep concern.

Dog Walking

As detailed in last month’s piece a big topic at recent meetings has been dog walking, arising from the closure of the set aside field. Dogs and their owners had enjoyed use of this space for many years as an easily accessible safe area. The council enquired about purchasing or leasing part of the land but that was not possible.

Dog owners then lobbied the council to allow dogs onto the recreation ground or part of it. Rec users lobbied just as hard not to allow this. Clearly, whichever way the decision went a sizeable number of residents would be upset. The council decided on the status quo and not to allow dogs on the Rec on the basis of health and safety and the fact that the village already has a shortage of sports space. A working party set up to look at alternatives is due to report back in October.

Meadow Road

Another hot topic was the Meadow Road site. For readers that do not know the background, this was once a traveller site set up by the county council that was eventually abandoned.  The parish council leased it with the objective of creating an open space. The intention is that it will be a woodland area for parishioners to enjoy with or without their dogs. It is open for anyone that wishes to visit but is far from finished and the ground is very uneven.

MUGA

Plans are now beginning to take shape. We are looking at an area next to the Bowls Green of 34 m x 37 m, which can accommodate two tennis courts, a 5 a side football pitch and a netball court. Catering for different sports on a single surface requires compromise, and sand-dressed artificial grass is the best option. We are drawing up detailed specifications and collecting information to make a pre-planning application to SCDC. As the recreation ground is in a high flood risk area the Environment Agency’s input is key. 

Vacancies

There have been three resignations, including the Chairman. Derek Law has stepped up from Vice Chair and Phil King has returned from the back benches. If you feel you can help fill the vacancies then please do contact the Parish Clerk for more information. The duties need not be very onerous and you will be able to judge at first hand how well your council performs. The closing date for applications is noon on the 30th October.

latest update on the A14 upgrade scheme

Construction activities – completed and coming up:

  • Construction on the 12-mile Huntingdon Southern bypass (the off-line section of the scheme) is nearing completion, with the final asphalt layer due to be completed in October, and gantry installation is also nearing completion. We are planning on opening the bypass to traffic by the end of this year.At the same time, online construction between Milton and Swavesey is intensifying. We’re aware of the impact our work has on people’s daily lives. We’re doing our best to keep people informed in advance to help them plan ahead via all our communications channels (see below for more details) and to minimise this impact as much as we can by carrying out as much work as possible while keeping the roads open and at full capacity, and maximising the amount of work completed at a location when we have a closure on.
  • The next sowing and planting season is approaching so we’re preparing areas along sections that are nearing completion, ready for when our landscaping team can start their work.
  • We’ve nearly finished installing the new environmental barrier along the A1 near Alconbury and are currently adding very low noise surfacing at this location too.
  • We’re now working on the reconstruction and widening of the old carriageway at multiple points along the whole of the online sections of the project (Swavesey to Milton) and are using contraflows or new sections of road such as the local access road to divert traffic while we work, so lane capacity is maintained during the day.
  • At Bar Hill, we’ve split the eastbound carriageway around the new junction to enable us to rebuild the old carriageway, which willeventually form the central part of the new road. We’re also working on the second bridge at this busy junction, which will add even more capacity once the two bridges for the new junction roundabout. This weekend, we’re installing a contraflow on the westbound carriageway near Dry Drayton so we can start the westbound carriageway reconstruction too.
  • Over recent weeks we’ve been building the new pedestrian and cycle footbridge at Swavesey, culminating in the installation of the bridge deck during a weekend closure at the end of August (see attached image). We’ll now start installing and tensioning the cables that will keep the bridge deck in place once we remove the temporary piers underneath. Once complete, this bridge will enable pedestrians and cyclists to travel across the A14 away from traffic and shouldalso make a memorable gateway into and out of the Cambridge area. Another, similar bridge, which will also accommodate horse riders, will be installed at Bar Hill before the end of the project.
  • Over the summer, we’ve been working on the widening of the guided busway bridge under the A14 near Histon and Impington and have had to keep the cycle path and busway closed, with diversions via junction 32. The cycle path has now reopened but unfortunately due to challenging ground conditions during our piling work early in the summer, we now have to extend the busway closure till early November to finish work there. We’re working closely with Cambridgeshire County Council and the bus companies to keep people informed and minimise disruption as much as we safely can. We’re also widening a bridge at Kings Hedges, with work happening during the day to avoid noise disturbance at night.
  • Finally, our preparations in Huntingdon ahead of the removal of the old A14 viaduct, which currently runs over the railway station and line, are going well. We’re carrying out utilities diversions, drainage work and vegetation clearance on Hinchingbrooke Park road. Ground investigations (trial holes) are being undertaken in the station car park, and utilitiesdiversions have started on Mill Common. Our environmental team has also been installing swift boxes at several properties near the viaduct and railway station, followingrequests from residents. We’ll only be able to start removing the viaduct after the Huntingdon bypass section of the scheme is open to traffic. In anticipation of this, we’ve returned to the Huntingdon area for a series of public information events over the past two weeks, and have updated the information on our dedicated webpage: https://highwaysengland.co.uk/a14-cambridge-to-huntingdon-improvement-scheme-huntingdon/

Bus Service update

Service updates in Cambridge from 31 August  
Service updates in Cambridge from 31 August
The following services will be altered from Saturday 31 August:
• Citi 5
• Guided Busway
• Babarham Park and Ride
• Newmarket Park and Ride
Temporary Changes
• Citi 5: The A14 is closed at Bar Hill this weekend (Saturday 31 August – Sunday 1 September). The Citi 5 is therefore running on a temporary diversion
• Guided Busway: The Busway track closure between Orchard Park and Histon has been extended until November 2019 due to additional maintenance requirements
Permanent Changes
• Barbarham Park and Ride: This service will now stop at Hills Road for all journeys and in both directions
• Newmarket Park and Ride: This service will now stop at Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium for all journeys in both directions.