Walking and cycling to become 'go-to' for short journeys in Cambridgeshire

Walking and cycling becoming people’s “go-to” option for short journeys is the aim of a new transport strategy set to be adopted in Cambridgeshire.

Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) will vote next week (7 March) on the Cambridgeshire Active Travel Strategy.

It means that the council’s highways and transport committee will take on responsibility for bringing forward active travel schemes, such as improving access to footpaths and cycleways, and sourcing funding for them.

It will also help the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) with its own active travel plans, CCC says, as well as developers who will be encouraged to embed walking and cycling provisions in all new building schemes.

CCC has also developed an Active Travel Guide aimed at rural areas addressing the challenges of creating new travel routes while protecting existing public rights of way.

CCC says: “The aim [of the strategy] is to make active travel the ‘go to’ option for local journeys which will not only improve people’s health as well as provide another travel option for people not able to travel by car, but will also help the council reach its ambitious target of the county becoming carbon net zero by 2045.”

It added that it has four key themes: “Embrace, Enhance, Expand and Encourage”.

At the same meeting, councillors will discuss the Fenland Transport Strategy which has been developed alongside Fenland District Council (FDC), taking the Active Travel Strategy into account.

The goal of this, CCC says, is to “improve accessibility and connectivity across the district” with sustainable transport options.

This will also mean reducing rural isolation and tackling climate change, it adds.

If the scheme is adopted, CCC plans to discuss progress on specific schemes to this end in autumn 2023.