Cambridgeshire County Council has is using £575k funding to implement a number of Experimental Traffic Orders (ETO) to completely shut several roads in Cambridge for an initial period of 6 months without consultation.

The most drastic of these in the closure for all traffic expect buses, cyclists and pedestrians of Mill Road bridge. This will split the community of Romsey and Petersfield in two! They are also closing Arbury Road at the Campkin Rd junction. All the restrictions are listed here

Although we completely agree we do not want a return to the dangerous congestion pre-lockdown these proposals are being railroaded through without any consultation or alternative provision for commuters who have to drive.

It is clear that this will hit the elderly, the disabled and those with mobility issues the hardest and will severely restrict those people's mobility. For some disabled people they rely entirely on the use of a private car or taxi. Not everyone can cycle and many struggle to walk or can't at all. These plans are discriminatory against them.

We also note the affect this will have on independent shops and businesses. Many will go under as a result and jobs will be lost at a time that unemployment is already up 145% in the city!

We call on the County Council to cancel these plans now. Instead we call on them to provide a full package of public transport to be implemented to enable even more people not to use their cars and that should include the lobbying of government for additional funding to enable this to be done comprehensively so we can cut congestion in a way that brings people together rather than sharply dividing them.