(England Twitter)-Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about 50 miles (80 km) north of London.
Cycling
As a university town lying on fairly flat ground and with traffic congestion, Cambridge has a large number of cyclists. Many residents also prefer cycling to driving in the narrow, busy streets, giving the city the highest level of cycle use in the UK. According to the 2001 census, 25% of residents travelled to work by bicycle. A few roads within the city are adapted for cycling, including separate traffic lights for cycle lanes and cycle contraflows on streets which are otherwise one-way; the city also benefits from parks which have shared use paths. There are, however, no separate cycle paths within the city centre. Despite the high levels of cycling, expenditure on cycling infrastructure is around the national average of 0.3% of the transport budget. There are a few cycle routes in the surrounding countryside and the city is now linked to the National Cycle Network.
Buses
Cambridge has a well-developed bus service including five Park and Ride sites encouraging motorists to park near the city's edge, all of which operate seven days a week.
Most buses run to and from the bus station located on Drummer Street in the heart of the city, although there are significant interchanges at the railway station and at Addenbrooke's Hospital. The principal operator is Stagecoach.
Roads
Because of its rapid growth in the 20th century, Cambridge has a congested road network.[6] Several major roads intersect at Cambridge. The M11 motorway from east London terminates to the north-west of the city where it joins the A14. Skirting the northern edge Cambridge, the A14 is a major freight route which connects the port of Felixstowe on the east coast with the Midlands, North Wales, the west coast and Ireland. The A14 is often congested, particularly the section between Huntingdon and Cambridge where the east–west traffic is merged with the A1 to M11 north–south traffic on a 2-lane dual carriageway. Cambridge is situated on the A10, a former Roman road from north London to Ely and King's Lynn. The A428 connects the city with Bedford and St Neots, and the A1303 to Newmarket and beyond to Colchester.
Some roads around the city have been designated as forming a ring road about a mile and a half in diameter, inside which there are traffic restrictions.
There are five council car parks in the city centre. There are limited numbers of metered bays offering parking for up to 1–8 hours across the city
Park and ride
The city is served by a seven days a week park and ride scheme. Five sites on the outskirts of the city or just outside its boundaries - at Babraham Road, Madingley Road, Milton, Newmarket Road and Trumpington - provide parking spaces for a total of over 4,500 cars. Buses run from these sites into the city centre.
Rail
Main Post: Cambridge railway station
Cambridge railway station was built in 1845 with a platform designed to take two full-length trains, the third longest in the country. Cambridge has direct rail links to London with termini at King's Cross (on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line and the East Coast Main Line) and Liverpool Street (on the West Anglia Main Line). There is a direct shuttle service to King's Cross every half hour during off peak hours. Peak hour trains to King's Cross all have additional stops. Future developments for the Cambridge to London line include the provision of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) high speed trains from 2013. The line is currently graded for 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). The line is all welded rail, but because of the flat geography there are many level crossings, and they make it harder to run at higher speeds.
Air
The nearest passenger services are from London Stansted Airport at 28 miles (45 km) and London Luton Airport at 32 miles (51 km), London Gatwick Airport and London Heathrow Airport both being about 90 minutes' travel, and the smaller London City Airport.
The city's own airport is known as Marshall Airport Cambridge UK (formerly Teversham Aerodrome) and is owned by Marshall Aerospace. There are no scheduled passenger services, though the runway can accommodate an unladen Boeing 747 or MD-11 and ScotAirways used to make scheduled flights to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The airport is used mainly by business, leisure and training flights, and to fly in aircraft for maintenance. In 2004 a charter service to Jersey was operated by Aurigny Air Services using Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. A dealer in fibreglass-moulded light monoplanes is also based at the airport.Controversially it has been mooted to remove Marshalls to a site away from the city, and develop the land with housing. Sir Arthur Marshall, the founder of the company, died in 2007.
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
Main Post: Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, set to be the world's longest guided busway, is under construction and will pass through Cambridge. It will run on the road from Huntingdon to St Ives, then along the disused railway line south-east to Cambridge, where it will rejoin the road at either Milton Road or Histon Road to the city's railway station. From there it will again be guided to Addenbrooke's Hospital and Trumpington. The scheme, budgeted at £116.2 million, was scheduled to open in early 2009 but has been beset by delays and has not yet been opened (as of July 2010). The scheme has been heavily criticised by campaigners who believe the route would be better served by rail.
Cambridge Cycling Town
In 2008 Cambridge was awarded the status of "Cycling Town", and granted £3.6 million to spend on cycling improvements. Cambridgeshire County Council currently plans to use the money to construct six new cycle paths in the city and its surrounding area:
Cottenham to Histon
Histon to Cambridge
Harston to Cambridge
Babraham Road Park & Ride to Wandlebury
Fen Ditton to Horningsea
Milton to Impington
Cambridge Gateway
In order to promote safety and improve access to Cambridge railway station, the County Council is redeveloping the area surrounding it. Work is set to commence by the end of 2010 and continue for about a year, at an estimated cost of £3.1 million. The redevelopment of the Cambridge Station area has been given the green light and has been awarded £1.5 million of central government money to help pay for the scheme. The Hills Road Bridge safety scheme is still included in the project.
Proposed developments
Several developments to the transport system in Cambridge have been proposed, mostly by Cambridgeshire County Council.
A second railway station in Chesterton has been proposed and in 2009 received the backing of the East of England Regional Assembly and work would probably include a link to the nearby Cambridgeshire Guided Busway offering services to St Ives and Huntingdon.
In 2009 the County Council revealed its plans to spend £25 million on renovating the area from Regent Street to the Cherry Hinton Road Junction, entitled Project Cambridge. The scheme is composed of many smaller projects with common themes of making junctions easier for pedestrians to cross, promoteing cycle use and reducing traffic. The scheme, criticised for not having had consultation with councillors or the public, is to be funded through tax increment financing where the money would initially be borrowed and would be repaid over 25 years from increases in business tax revenue. The scheme was due to be discussed by councilors in October 2009.
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