Safety at Girton Corner
As part of the Wellbrook Way development, one condition laid on the developer was the improvement of access to Huntingdon Road at Girton Corner. Those works should be finished by the time you read this. However, safety issues were not particularly considered in these changes, and the Parish Council and Girton College remain concerned that the corner is very dangerous, particularly for cyclists and pedestrians. There have been several accidents at Girton Corner, including one fatality just a year ago, which may be directly due to design factors of the corner.The Parish Council and the College therefore set up a joint task-force to look at these concerns. This consisted of members of Girton Parish Council, Girton College and the Cambridge Cycling Campaign, with other interested persons. They had access to a full Safety Audit carried out for the Council in February by John Franklin. They produced the Report referred to below, with seven proposals to encourage the South Cambridgeshire Highway Authority to introduce some simple measures to improve safety.
Briefly, the seven measures called for are:
1. To reduce the speed limit on the Huntingdon Road from 40 to
30mph.
2. To remove a redundant traffic post which obstructs the pavement in front of Girton College.
3. To improve the state of cycle access to Huntingdon Road before Girton Corner.
4. To raise the sign on the central island, which currently obstructs visibility of oncoming vehicles.
5. To remove the railings between the road and footpath by the College where they run right down to the kerb.
6. To add hatchings to the shoulder of the north access to Girton Road to encourage vehicles to take the corner as wide as possible.
7. To move the Huntingdon Road bus stop southwards so that stopping buses do not obstruct vehicles entering from Girton.
The College Council approved the Report and its recommendations at its meeting on 6 October; and the Parish Council approved it on 18 October. The Parish Council felt that others from the Village might like to join in expressing these concerns. There is therefore a petition, consisting of the seven measures proposed by the Council, which you are encouraged to sign. You can print it out to sign (see link below), or add your name to one of the copies which you will find in each of the shops in Girton or the George or the Crown.
These will also be forwarded to our MP (Andrew Lansley); our County Councillor (John Reynolds) and our two District Councillors (Eustace Bullman and Tom Bygott).
The petition and the full detailed report with its two appendixes are available as PDF files as below. When the petition has been completed, it should be sent to Petition, 9 Woodlands Park, Girton, Cambs CB3 0QB or delivered to the Parish Office in Girton Recreation Ground Pavilion.
The petition for signing and submitting
The full Report
Appendix 1: Safety Audit
Appendix 2: Traffic flows