Next stage of Chisholm trail to make travelling across Cambridge easier for thousands

Plans for the second part of a walking and cycling scheme to help people commute across the city more easily have been set out. Phase two of the Chisholm Trail has been discussed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership.

Phase one of the trail has been widely celebrated by the community since it was opened in 2021, with an estimated 11,000 cycle trips and more than 3,900 pedestrian trips taken on it every week. The GCP’s Executive Board meeting, which was held last Thursday (November 7), heard how an agreement has been reached in principle with Network Rail and Greater Anglia for the Cavendish Road to Clifton Road section of the proposed route.

Members agreed to work in partnership with Cambridge City Council on the section of the trail at the Great Eastern car park and Cromwell Road which would include public engagement. Phase two of the Chisholm Trail would run from Cambridge Station to Coldham’s Lane where it would link up with phase one of the scheme – creating a first-class, mostly off-road walking and cycling route across the city to Cambridge North station via the Abbey Chesterton Bridge.

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Cllr Elisa Meschini, Chair of the GCP’s Executive Board, said: “Phase one of the Chisholm Trail has brought everyone living in some of the most deprived parts of Cambridge within a 10-minute cycle of a rail station. I have seen firsthand the difference that a safe and segregated link into the city has made to the lives of the residents in my ward.

"Phase two will expand the trail further, making it possible for people to walk and cycle right across the city from Cambridge North to Cambridge Station to make it even easier for people to get to work, school, the shops or to travel to rail stations and the hospitals.”

The Executive Board also progressed the Cambridge South West Travel Hub (CSWTH) project and the Fulbourn and Sawston Greenways – two of 12 new walking and cycling routes. Members agreed for officers to carry out a procurement process to appoint a contractor to construct the travel hub as part of a phased delivery, with work expected to begin in 2025.

A planning application for the travel hub was approved by Cambridgeshire County Council in July 2022. Since then, the GCP has procured the land and carried out detailed design work.

The travel hub aims to take thousands of cars off the M11 at junction 11 and provide people with more options in the way they travel in and out of the city. The board agreed that construction could begin on phase one of the Fulbourn Greenway and to extend the early works that are planned to be carried out on the Sawston Greenway in Great Shelford and Stapleford.

This will include upgrades to the southern section of Church Street and the London Road junction, as well as improvements on Francis Crick Avenue to link the greenway with the Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) project to make it easier for people to travel around. You can watch the executive board meeting back on the YouTube channel.