Residents fear upgraded Milton Road junction with George Street in Cambridge is ‘an accident waiting to happen’
Residents fear there will be a serious collision if changes are not made to a junction off the newly-upgraded Milton Road.
Changes have been promised by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) to address the lack of visibility from the George Street junction, but so far nothing has happened. The GCP confirmed it has been speaking with residents about the issues and says it is monitoring the situation to see what else can be done.
Kate Polak, chair of the George Street Residents’ Association, told the Cambridge Independent: “We flagged up that this is an accident risk and they seem to just be merrily carrying on regardless.
“We’re being as careful as we can as residents, but people who don’t know like delivery drivers or anybody coming through, there’s no give way signs so people can merrily drive out.”
The problem arose because the Copenhagen crossings on Milton Road give right of way to cyclists and pedestrians at the junctions with side streets.
George Street joins Milton Road at an angle and up a slope. Residents say these factors combined with the fencing on either side of the street mean it is impossible for vehicles exiting George Street to see if any bicycles or pedestrians are approaching until the vehicle’s bonnet is obstructing the crossing.
George Street residents have also raised concerns about cyclists and e-scooters users riding on the section of path, designed for pedestrians.
Kate has met with both the GCP and its contractor Milestone to show them the issues with the junction.
“They conceded that the lack of visibility was a concern but didn’t commit to any specific improvements,” she said.
It was only after Kate contacted Cambridge’s Labour MP Daniel Zeichner to raise the residents’ concerns that the group got a commitment for action.
In an email forwarded by Mr Zeichner to Kate and seen by the Cambridge Independent, the GCP says the give-way line on the plans “has been moved forward to the edge of the footway”.
“This change will address any further concerns around visibility that were raised by residents upon completion of the junction,” the email says.
Kate explained: “I was then able to set up a meeting on site with a Milestone designer who agreed that they would move the give-way lines from the start of the ramp in George Street, to the dividing line between the pedestrian and cycle path.
“This will mean that vehicles can legally pull out onto the pedestrian path before giving way and from there hopefully see and be seen by oncoming bicycles.”
As yet the line painting has not been completed.
Kate said the residents were also told that they could not have a traffic mirror, which they say will improve visibility, by the designer on the grounds that “they don’t want to install anymore street furniture”.
She said: “I also got permission from the owner of the house on the right as you approach the junction to alter her fence, which currently contributes to the visibility problem. I emailed the contractors to suggest that they could do this but they haven’t replied to this either.
“My neighbours and I are very concerned that if something isn’t done about this then there will be a serious accident at the junction.
“If we can’t get Milestone and the GCP to do something about it then we will probably decide to set up a mirror ourselves.”
A GCP spokesperson said: “As we come to the end of the major works on the Milton Road scheme, we have seen how new junctions, crossings and segregated sections of path are working.
“We have been speaking to residents of George Street regarding some of their issues with their new crossing and we have already looked to move the give way line and are now monitoring the situation to see what else can be done.”
