Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan for consultation

Comment on Policy S/PRIA/EG: Eastern Gate

Summary: We support the Eastern Gate policy but request that it be strengthened to explicitly recognize Elizabeth Way as a key strategic corridor requiring comprehensive planning, not just intervention at the roundabout.

Detailed Comment:

We welcome the Draft Plan's recognition that the Elizabeth Way roundabout area suffers from problems including vehicular traffic dominance, pedestrian guardrails, indirect crossings, and barriers between communities (paras 3.1.161, 3.1.166-3.1.167). However, the Plan's analysis has a critical gap: it focuses narrowly on the roundabout while failing to address Elizabeth Way itself as a strategic corridor.

The Missing Strategic Context:

The Plan correctly identifies Newmarket Road as a "key arterial route" and describes the Eastern Gate as a "key approach to the city" requiring "regeneration and transformation" (para 3.1.161, 3.1.163). However, Elizabeth Way—the corridor linking North and East Cambridge with the city centre—receives no equivalent strategic recognition despite being fundamental to this connectivity.

This omission is inconsistent with the Plan's approach elsewhere. The Plan establishes comprehensive corridor policies for:

Hills Road and Regent Street Corridor (Policy S/PRIA/HRRS)
Mill Road (Policy S/PRIA/MR)
Elizabeth Way merits the same strategic treatment.

Supporting Evidence from the Plan:

The Plan's own analysis supports the need for corridor-level thinking on Elizabeth Way:

Historical Context: Para 3.1.161 acknowledges that "large-scale highway interventions of the 1970s, the application of standard highway engineering solutions and the construction of unsympathetic bulky buildings...have eroded the quality and character of the area and created barriers between neighbouring communities." This critique applies along the entire length of Elizabeth Way, not just the roundabout.
Transport Issues Beyond the Roundabout: While paras 3.1.166-3.1.167 identify specific problems at the roundabout (underpass, guardrails, indirect crossings), vehicular traffic dominance affects the entire corridor along Newmarket Road and East Road, limiting pedestrian and cyclist safety throughout.
Existing Policy Intent: Policy S/PRIA/EG already calls for proposals to "emphasise 'place making' over vehicle movement" and "create a more comfortable and simplified pedestrian environment" (Policy 2a, 2b, 2d). Extending this thinking to the full Elizabeth Way corridor would strengthen delivery of these objectives.
Alignment with Plan Objectives:

A strategic approach to Elizabeth Way would strengthen the Plan's delivery against its own stated objectives:

Sustainability: Supporting modal shift by creating safer, more attractive walking and cycling routes along the entire corridor
Accessibility: Reducing journey times and improving connectivity for all users, not just at isolated pinch points
Placemaking: Addressing the legacy of 1970s highway engineering comprehensively rather than piecemeal
Community Cohesion: Reconnecting communities divided by the corridor, as the Plan already recognizes for the roundabout area
Proposed Modification:

We request that Policy S/PRIA/EG be modified to:

Explicitly recognize Elizabeth Way as a key strategic corridor linking North and East Cambridge with the city centre
Extend the policy's scope beyond the roundabout to address the scale, layout and design of the corridor along its full length
Call for a comprehensive, long-term strategy for Elizabeth Way that addresses pedestrian and cyclist safety, placemaking, and community reconnection throughout the corridor
Note that detailed interventions can be developed at a later stage, but that the strategic direction should be set now in the Local Plan
This modification would:

Complete the strategic framework already applied to other major corridors (Hills Road/Regent Street, Mill Road)
Strengthen internal consistency within the Plan
Provide clearer long-term direction for this critical gateway to the city
Better align the Plan with its stated objectives on sustainable transport, accessibility, and community cohesion
Conclusion:

The Plan already contains the evidence and policy framework to support a strategic approach to Elizabeth Way. We urge the Councils to extend the excellent work in Policy S/PRIA/EG to encompass the full corridor, ensuring this key route receives the comprehensive, long-term planning it requires.