Histon Road Improvement Scheme, Cambridge

Cambridge is one of the UK’s fastest growing cities. This growth is increasing demand on the transport links both into and around the city. One of the key routes into Cambridge is Histon Road which connects the city, via the A1, to the UK’s strategic road network.

Location

Cambridgeshire, UK

Client

Greater Cambridge Partnership

Project Status

Complete

With increased demand for travel, people using Histon Road experienced congestion and delays. This has impacted the ability of businesses to operate effectively, and has impacted the lives of those who live, work, and travel along Histon Road.

WSP were appointed in 2016 to deliver a Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) investment to redesign Histon Road in order to encourage the use of public transport, reduce congestion and air pollution while encouraging continued economic growth.

The CYCLOPS junction is the fourth of its kind in the UK

4th 4th

More trips are expected on Greater Cambridge’s transport network by 2031

25,000 25,000

More people will live in Greater Cambridge by 2031

30% 30%

Designing with active travel and users’ safety in mind

A key priority for GCP was creating safer and more attractive routes for cycling, wheeling and walking, and delivering segregated infrastructure where possible. To support this, our designs included the United Kingdom’s fourth Cycle Optimised Protected Signals (CYCLOPS) junction. The junction provides an external orbital cycle track which separates cyclists from pedestrians and vehicles providing additional safety. Increased safety is an important part of attracting private car users to switch to active travel modes.

In addition to the CYCLOPS junction, we introduced other innovations to benefit cyclists and wheelers using the road. This included Copenhagen crossings which provide cyclists and pedestrians with priority at side road junctions, and designing in floating bus stops that allow cyclists to safely undertake stationary buses. The cycleway design also features kerbs with a slanted profile providing cyclists with a level of separation from motorised traffic whilst giving them the flexibility to leave or join the carriageway at any point.

The CYCLOPs junction at Gilbert Road which benefits active travel safety

Increased climate resilience through sustainable urban drainage

With the climate emergency requiring local authorities to deliver climate adaptation measures to manage increasingly frequent extreme weather events, the scheme included Cambridgeshire County Council’s first Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuD) infrastructure.

By deploying SuDS, we responded to the need for climate resilience by designing in attractive low-maintenance rain gardens. These not only improved the streetscape but also slow down surface water runoff into drains by mimicking natural drainage into the ground. This reduces the risk of surface water flooding on the road network, deters verge parking and filters out pollutants carried off the road by surface water run-off.

By designing the scheme with bespoke cycle-friendly combined kerb and drainage units, we were able to use lowered kerb upstands which remove the need for gullies and allow cyclists to use the entire width of the cycleway.

Bespoke cycle drainage kerbs are provided as part of the scheme

Engaging local communities

A key design challenge for the scheme was to design new infrastructure in a tight urban corridor surrounded in many places by the homes of local residents. This was recognised in the GCP’s objective for the scheme to enhance the environment and streetscapes.

By working alongside the GCP to establish relationships with community and engagement groups we were able to ensure that the final design solutions incorporated requirements directly from a large variety of user groups including local residents.

This included planting new trees and delivering rain gardens that responded to the need for climate resilience and improved public realm.

In October 2021, members of the GCP board joined community groups to plant a tree to mark the completion of the £10.6m project.