Good signs

  Call me an optimist but I thought reading this on the East Cambs Council website was a good thing. Let's see how much comes to anything, they at least know the problems, their causes and some of the possible solutions. Will they take advice? Will anything come out of them consulting the Cycling Campaign? Only time will tell.

Ely Traffic and Environment Study

This study was established as a result of the Section106 agreement for the new Sainsbury store in Ely, which opened in February 2012. The agreement committed £611,000 towards traffic and environmental improvements in Ely, linked to assimilating the new store development into the city centre. Since then a small working group has been established involving officers from East Cambridgeshire District Council, City of Ely Council and Cambridgeshire County Council and the work to date has included:

• The first of two rounds of traffic surveys across the City; the next round of surveys takes place in July 2012.
• Air quality monitoring in Ely during 2012, to establish baseline data on nitrogen dioxide pollution
• Comprehensive consultation on traffic and access issues and potential solutions for
• Ely, involving a website survey, stakeholder event and public consultation sessions at Ely Markets.

As a result, a number of key issues and possible solutions have been identified including:

• The need to improve the quality of pedestrian access and the shopping experience, including more pedestrian crossings
• Safer and better cycling routes along with cycle parking
• More effective parking enforcement to reduce blockages
• Reduced speeding across the City (to 20mph)
• To find a solution for Broad Street blockages
• Change the layout and management of Market Street
• Improvements in the Lisle Lane area

Further work is now being undertaken to identify a shortlist of priorities.