Campaigners renew calls to reopen Mill Road bridge to all

Campaigners have renewed calls to reopen Mill Road bridge and warn the ongoing closure to most vehicles is threatening businesses.

The Cambs Against Congestion Charge Group (CACCG) held a protest to support struggling shop owners and signal to the council that “we are still very much active”.

The protest, held on Saturday (13 September), also sought to inform the public about the devolution process, which could give mayor Paul Bristow new powers to intervene.

Keiron Johnson, CACCG chair, told the Cambridge Independent: “We feel the bridge being closed is a detriment to Mill Road. It will kill off businesses if the bridge doesn’t reopen.”

Mr Johnson said the group is also planning a further demonstration at a later date which has yet to be confirmed.

Cambridgeshire county councillors agreed last year to issue a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to install a bus gate on Mill Road bridge after public consultation found support for the move. It was the second time the authority had decided to issue a TRO to put in place restrictions on the bridge, after the first order was quashed following a legal challenge by campaigners on technical grounds.

A legal challenge to the second TRO was dismissed in July.

The restrictions created under the TRO close the bridge to all motor vehicles, except for local buses, taxis, emergency services, Blue Badge holders registered vehicles, vehicles in a disabled tax class, and vehicles on the council’s permitted vehicles list.

Pedestrians and cyclists are also still allowed to cross the bridge. The move was designed to improve the environment and aid active travel and public transport. Anyone who drives illegally through the bus gate can be issued with a fine of £70, discounted to £35 if paid within 21 days.

“It affects so many businesses, so many shops, so many retailers up and down this bridge, and it’s just not fair,” said Mr Bristow, who has pledged to use new powers to act if the council does not.

Referring to new authority granted by the English Devolution Bill, he added: “If the county council won’t act, I will act. I will use those powers, and I will reopen Mill Road bridge.”

The powers include the ability to make mayoral development orders, granting upfront planning permission for key sites and intervention rights on planning decisions of “strategic importance”.

Under the Bill, the Combined Authority will become a mayoral strategic authority.

It would then be required to set up and co-ordinate a ‘key route network’ to ensure strategic oversight of the area’s most important roads.

Mayors will hold a ‘power of direction’ over constituent councils’ use of their local highway and traffic powers on this network, to support delivery of the Local Transport Plan. Mr Bristow has said he would designate Mill Road as part of a future network.

Meanwhile, the group Mill Road 4 People, which supports the bus gate, has called for investment in the street and published its proposals. These include widening the pavements by reducing the road space, adding more seating and planting to make Mill Road “a place to go to, not a street to drive through”, and larger-scale plans for four public areas.