Cycling: Cambridgeshire

(asked on 29th October 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of whether Highways England’s provision for cycle travel in the (a) A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon and (b) A428 Caxton Gibbet highway schemes complies with its design standards for cycling infrastructure; and what steps he is taking to ensure that Highways England conforms with its own design standards in all future highway schemes and development proposals affecting the Strategic Road Network throughout England.


Answered by
George Freeman Portrait
George Freeman
This question was answered on 4th November 2019

The A14 scheme designers certify that the scheme design complies with the relevant mandatory standards within the Design Manual Roads & Bridges.

Where compliance is not possible, departures from standards are applied for which have to be strongly justified to be acceptable.

Highways England employs an independent project technical assurance team to oversee this process and through spot checks and audits it gives confidence that relevant standards and specifications are being adhered to.

The A428 scheme is at preliminary design stage and Highways England has undertaken a Walking, Cycling Horse-Riding Assessment and Review to identify the most frequently used cycling routes (and walking and horse-riding routes) that may be affected by the scheme to define the provisions for cyclists being proposed.

Highways England is working with local authorities and community groups to understand what is most important to the people that use these routes.

The existing A428 is being retained as a local road which, as a result of the scheme, will have less traffic on it following the opening of the new road, making it a safer and more attractive route for cyclists.

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