Calls for physical barrier on Cambridge guided busway after deaths
A cyclist is calling for a barrier to be installed on the guided busway following the death of a pedestrian.
Brian Robertson from Shepreth is urging Cambridgeshire County Council to take action on the southern stretch of the busway where a cyclist was also killed in 2018.
He said: “I have been campaigning for many years for the busway to have a small hedge on the kerbstone to provide a protected verge.”
There have also been calls for fencing to be put in to improve segregation and safety. At peak times the busway can be packed with pedestrians and cyclists and in some sections the pavement is very narrow.
Mr Robertson, who typically uses the busway about two or three times a week, said he was in favour of a green barrier rather than a fence. He said: “I don’t think a fence is a very good idea because you could knock the handbars on the fence, plus with a fence you’ve got to maintain it, whereas a hedge would be self-maintaining.”
This week police named the pedestrian who died following the collision on the busway at Sedley Taylor Road on October 26 as Kathleen Pitts, 52, of Ravensworth Gardens, Cambridge. The collision happened just after 6pm and the cause of it has not been established.
The Health and Safety Executive has said it is investigating that incident with police, but has yet to conclude its probe into the 2018 death of cyclist Steve Moir, from Sawston, who died on September 13, 2018, in a head-on collision with a bus when he fell in its path. Mr Moir had clipped the kerb separating the path from the busway while trying to overtake pedestrians.
It happened in a similar area of the busway, between Long Road and Cambridge station, to the October 26 collision.
Mr Robertson continued: “I’m calling for a low hedge which could separate the cycle way from the busway and that could have prevented the terrible accident with Steve Moir.”
He is also calling for busway to be regularly cleared of leaves which fall onto the track and, he says, can pose a hazard for buses trying to stop quickly.
The guided busway runs for 16 miles (26km) between St Ives and Cambridge, and has a track along which buses travel adjacent to a pedestrian pavement and cycleway.
The county council has instructed an independent expert to examine the southern section of busway where these two incidents happened.
Cllr Peter McDonald, chair of the highways and transport committee, said: “Safety on the busway is a priority for the county council and remains under continuous review.
“We have identified a suitable expert to carry out a fully independent analysis into what has happened on this section of the southern busway. This will include a further review of the previous fatal incident on this section of the southern busway and will make recommendations as to any improvements that could reasonably be made.”
Last Tuesday, a teenage cyclist was left with life-threatening injuries after a collision with a bus on the guided busway.
The 16-year-old boy, from Cambridge, was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where he remains in a critical but stable condition.
The collision happened at 5.46pm on November 9 on the busway between Chariot Way and Chieftain Way, in the Orchard Park area.
The bus driver remained at the scene and helped police with their inquiries.
Witnesses to the latest collision, which happened in the north of the city, can contact police via their web chat service at bit.ly/3vsiYDw or online forms at cambs.police.uk/report quoting incident 386 of 9 November.
Anyone without internet access should call 101.
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