Thousands of fines handed to motorists over Mill Road bridge closure

Thousands of motorists have been caught out by the temporary closure of Mill Road bridge, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show.

Data released by Cambridgeshire County Council and published on the What Do They Know website shows 9,350 penalty charge notices were issued from August 12, 2020 to December 2020 covering the Mill Road inbound and outbound lanes.

The bridge was closed in June last year as part of efforts to promote safer cycling and walking amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Enforcement cameras became active on the bridge from Wednesday, August 12. Drivers of any cars, vans or lorries who crossed the bridge after that date faced a £60 fine - reduced to £30 if paid within two weeks.

The only area in the city to exceed that number of fines issued for Mill Road was Silver Street – inbound and outbound – where 13,911 notices were issued. But these figures were issued over a 12-month period from January 2020 to December 2020.

In addition, a total of 1,634 warnings were issued for Mill Road over the five-month period compared with 1,829 over the 12-month period for Silver Street.

Elsewhere in the city 7,455 fines were issued for Bridge Street, 6,594 for Emmanuel Road, 4,395 for Newmarket Road and 7,103 for Station Road, with all figures the combined total for inbound and outbound issued notices. There were 20 fines for the bus lane on Hills Road, 4,791 for Regent Street and 736 for Worts Causeway.

Over the course of the year, 54,895 penalty charges were issued for motorists using bus lanes and bus gates in Cambridge. A further 4,521 warnings were issued.

A county council spokesperson said: “The Mill Road bus gate is one of a number of measures being put in place across the county to encourage cycling and walking and promote a green recovery from lockdown.

“Reducing through traffic including cars and lorries will also help people adhere to social distancing rules when they are out and about visiting shops and cafés in the neighbourhood.

“The bridge closure is well signposted, with more than 20 signs warning motorists of the closure on surrounding roads, but we appreciate it will take a while for drivers to get used to the scheme.”

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