Tetra Tech has been appointed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) to conduct a public transport study exploring how to improve journey times into the city from the east for public transport users, pedestrians and cyclists.
The study will focus on the broad corridor around A1303 Newmarket Road between the Quy Interchange on the A14 and the Elizabeth Way roundabout, including the Cambridge Airport site. The GCP is developing the eastern corridor alongside three other high-quality corridors to form the first phase of the Cambridge Autonomous Metro (CAM). This innovative part-automated system will reshape public transport provision in the region by linking up key corridors into the city via underground tunnels.
As the fastest-growing city in the UK continues to prosper, we are excited to support a scheme offering the capacity to facilitate jobs and housing growth over the coming decades, whilst reducing road traffic and bringing with it environmental benefits.
Tetra Tech’s team of experts will produce a strategic outline business case assessing cost-effective options for dramatically enhancing public transport provision in the city’s eastern corridors. This will extend to helping the GCP reach its traffic reduction target of 24 percent in the city centre. The team will also coordinate with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (developing the CAM), bus operators, landowners, local residents and businesses, and various interest groups.
With the CAM anticipated to become fully operational by circa 2035, our team will also explore accessibility improvements for walking, cycling, and bus operations in the interim period, as well as after the CAM’s opening.
Ben King, Associate at Tetra Tech, said: “The Greater Cambridge Partnership is thinking innovatively and radically, pushing boundaries within transport planning to create a more sustainable, accessible city. Cambridge is a bustling city that needs dynamic mass transit solutions to facilitate long-term growth and contribute towards the creation of more attractive communities. Our work on developing options into the city from the east, which is a key transport corridor for Cambridge, makes it an exciting project to be involved in.”
“Ultimately, our study will explore the way those coming into the city from places such as Newmarket, Mildenhall and Bury St Edmonds can do so more sustainably and conveniently by using modern and attractive public transport provision. There’s a significant stakeholder engagement element required to achieve this and we are committed to working closely with the GCP and all relevant parties to identify a series of options as part of a Strategic Outline Business Case.”