Plans to build a multi-million pound new busway to the southeast of Cambridge have moved a step closer – but are likely to face a public inquiry. The Greater Cambridge Partnership has applied for a Transport and Works Act Order to the Department for Transport for the busway, travel hub and path for walkers and cyclists.
The new busway is proposed as part of the Cambridge South East Transport Scheme (CSET). It would see a new dedicated mainly off-road busway built, as well as a segregated walking and cycling route, from a new travel hub off the A11 to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Greater Cambridge Partnership says it would connect communities along the route to Cambridge and the new Cambridge South railway station, as well as giving commuters easy access to the Biomedical Campus, Granta Park and Babraham Research Campus. It said the new travel hub will be “in easy reach” for those coming to Cambridge from the east and south.
There have been five rounds of public consultation on the scheme as well as community and stakeholder engagement since 2016. However there have been concerns from some over the impact it will have on the Cambridgeshire countryside.
A county council meeting in October 2024 heard mixed views on the project from members of the public. A petition signed by 6,609 people opposing the CSET busway and supporting an alternative option was also presented to the council.
At the time James Littlewood, chief executive of the charity Cambridge Past, Present and Future, said the alternative included creating new sections of bus lanes along the A1307 from Babraham to Hinton Way, and a final bus road section between Hinton Way and the biomedical campus.
Peter Blake, interim director of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, said: “We have today submitted a Transport and Work Act Order to government for the CSET scheme after many years of consultation and engagement on the project. This scheme is supported by NHS hospital trusts and life science campuses along the stretch of the route from the A11 to the new Cambridge South rail station.
“The Department for Transport will look through the application and are highly likely to call for a public inquiry where interested parties will be able to present their views on the submission.”
The application documents can be viewed on www.greatercambridge.org.uk/cset-twao
For more information on the application and the scheme visit www.greatercambridge.org.uk/cset-twao
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