Lib Dems success. Getting news out first. I wonder why?

I have to give the Lib Dems credit. The spy network within government is outstanding. I’m never sure if they have window cleaners listening at windows or cleaners hovering around busy desks or perhaps its simpler than that.

Perhaps Lib Dem ministers tell Lib Dem MPs information before County Councils the results of County Council activity, even if it has nothing to do with the Lib Dem MP. Surely not.

I’m not going to list the number of times this has happened recently but I do detect a common denominator, our very own Lib Dem Julian Huppert. The same Julian Huppert who refuses to support the A14 scheme proposed by his own government and his own leader. He does not see how Cambridge will benefit from the upgrade. A ridiculous position to take.

So what bandwagon has he jumped on now? My officers, together with local cycling organisations have put together a successful bid to the DfT for a significant amount of money. Barely has the news reached us before Julian has bobbed up on the radio full of beans about it despite it having nothing to do with him.

I feel sorry for all my officers who have worked hard for this only to see credit being pinched by a self serving MP clinging to his seat.

Cycle improvements

The Department for Transport (DfT) has given Cambridgeshire County Council nearly £1.2million to improve safety for cyclists at key junctions around Cambridge.

The Council has been working with local cycling and transport groups to find out where improvements were most needed. As a result, funding was agreed for three key junctions in the city.

Work on improving all the schemes will start later this year as part of the requirements of the funding.

A total of £500,000 has been allocated to install toucan crossings at the A14/B1049 Histon interchange and the A14/B1047 Horningsea interchange, as well as improving cycle lane approaches at the junctions of Gilbert Road and Histon Road, and Gilbert Road and Milton Road.

A further £450,000 is earmarked for the junction of Hills Road and Regent Street in Cambridge, adding new cycle lanes on Hills Road to enable cyclists to safely reach the front of the queue. The existing central reservation will be removed, traffic lights will be upgraded and the entire junction resurfaced.

In addition, £240,000 will be spent on improving the junction of Perne Road and Radegund Road. This will improve safety for children cycling and walking to St Bede’s School and Coleridge Community College. Traffic speeds on the roundabout will also be reduced.

I would like to thank Sustrans, Cambridge Cyclists’ Tourists Club (CTC) and Cambridge Cycling Campaign for working with us on the bid. I am delighted that Britain’s cycling capital, Cambridge, received funding, and safety improvements can be made to encourage even more people to cycle. We are working hard to improve facilities for cyclists. Cycling makes for a healthy, active, independent population and reduces traffic congestion.

Cambridgeshire County Council has organised a number of events this spring to encourage more people to get on their bikes. More information about these and cycling in Cambridgeshire is available on: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/cycling

Highway heroes hit the hundred mark

Brilliant effort team.

Cambridgeshire County Council’s gritting teams have for the first time carried out 100 runs during a single winter season and they look set to be kept busy as the cold weather continues.

A fleet of 39 specialist gritters – four of them newly acquired for this season – and their team of around 100 highly trained drivers – are on call 24/7 ready to hit the road loaded with some of the 10,000 plus tonnes of salt which is stockpiled at depots around the county.

The run tonight at 7.00 pm will be the 100th time this winter that the fleet has been called into action to keep Cambridgeshire highways safe and secure and traffic on the move – the first time the run rate has hit the century mark.

Gritting runs are triggered automatically by sophisticated weather monitoring equipment which alerts Highways chiefs when temperatures are expected to fall below freezing – on some occasions the fleet will carry out as many as three runs within a 24 hour period when weather conditions and temperatures are particularly bad.

In addition specialist brine spraying equipment mounted on two four-wheel drive quad bikes will again be available to treat harder to reach foot and cycle paths in Cambridge and backpack sprayers will be used to ‘spot’ treat other areas as necessary, including 11 foot and cycle bridges in Cambridge.

Treatment runs cover a network of primary routes across Cambridgeshire designed to keep commuter and passenger transport traffic flowing with secondary routes covered when resources allow.

Salt bins, which are kept stocked by the County Council, are also available to local parishes and the county council works in partnership with the district councils to try to ensure maximum treatment of winter-weather affected areas.

A14 – the missing link

So, just back from the gym, recovering my composure and sat in my study. My thoughts started to wander.

The A14 upgrade is something that is never far from my thinking. It is so important. We have all dreamt about this road being fit for purpose, accidents being reduced, long delays ending. It now seems that this prize is within our grasp.

All we need to do is get all the local authorities to make a contribution, spread over 25 years and it is sorted. ALL local authorities need to chip in. So far we have agreement in principal for a contribution from the LEP, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Northamptonshire, ECDC, SCDC, Huntingdonshire DC, Fenland DC and …………………… hmmmm.

Politicians have various loyalties. As county councillors we have loyalties to our division, our county, our conservative group and the Conservative party. We are also loyal to our country. Politicians sometimes have to deal with the conflict that these various loyalties bring but should never allow politics to get in the way of doing the right thing.

I don’t think any political party or any political leader would survive being the cause of this A14 upgrade not going ahead. Especially if the reason was for political ideology. That couldn’t happen, could it?

Visit by rail minister – New Cambridge Science Park station

Today, I met with Simon Burns MP, the minister responsible for rail to discuss the new Cambridge Science Park station.

I was accompanied by officers and local MP Jim Paice or more correctly Sir James Paice. Andrew Lansley MP also attended to provide some weight from government.

We had a visit to the site, all correctly dresses in our personal protective clothing of course. The site itself is huge and can only really be appreciated when on it. Work has already started on clearing the area of vegetation. The proposed location of the station was asked out with cones to give us all an idea of scale and location.

I then had a private meeting with the minister to discuss how the station can be completed as early as possible and how it will fit in with the rail franchise plans. We both agreed that moving as quickly as possible would be helpful. We also agreed that keeping the cost to a minimum was important.

Simon clearly understood that this new station was important for Cambridge, the county and the country.

Gritting teams – well done

Travelling early this morning to Shire Hall I was frustrated that I did not think ahead and put some cardboard on my car windscreen but delighted with the clear roads. Not just clear of snow but also clear of slush. I know that not all roads will be this good and that some minor routes need to be tackled with care but …………… great job team.

We regularly report to the DFT detailing our salt stock which today is 8020 tonnes and includes a recent 1000 tonne delivery. Since that date we have had a continual forecast of severe frosts plus snow prompting multiple runs at a high salt spread rate ( 20g /m2).

In 13 days we have completed 21 full gritting runs, 4 secondary runs. Including topping up salt bins and footway gritting we have used 4726 tonnes.

The recent spate of snow over this weekend prompted a phased action as the severe weather moved across the County from the South West. The gritting runs having to be coordinated in order the actions were undertaken to be when most effective. This ran extremely well all thanks to the 4 local winter maintenance supervisors. The last of these runs was at 05:00 today to be ahead of the commuting traffic.

Gritting fleet/drivers are on call 24/7 and have been going out up to four times every 24 hours.

Gritting runs are highlighted on twitter – #grittertwitter

39 specialist gritters and 100 drivers who work on rota.

10,000 tonnes of grit in stock and we use about 200 tonnes on every run. More grit on delivered/on order to keep stocks up.

In addition we have a ‘guided gritter’ to treat the busway track and a fourwheel drive vehicle to treat the maintenance track alongside the busway.

Also we have quad bike gritter to treat cyclepaths and foot and cycle bridges in Cambridge and backpack sprayers to treat harder to reach areas.

In addition we have a team of nearly 100 community volunteer gritters across Cambs who treat sensitive areas in their own community – areas like approaches to libraries, village shop, GP surgery, day centres etc.

All the gritting routes are on our website http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Highways gritting – great effort

Early this morning I had to drive to Doddington to chair a meeting of all our prospective county councillors who are standing in may.

Despite having to clear a significant amount of snow off my car the roads across Cambridgeshire were clear and ice free. Our gritting teams have done a fabulous job keeping this county moving.

My thanks to all involved.

Cold Snap

The Met Office has issued a Cold Weather Alert this morning.

There is a 70% probability of severe cold weather/icy conditions/heavy snow between 6.00AM on Saturday and 6.00AM on Monday but with the cold snap likely to extend into Tuesday.

I share this news as a reminder of the need to think about the County’s vulnerable residents and how we may all look out for each other.

Our gritting teams are all prepared but are you?

Cambridgeshire County Council adds pressure to improve the A47

Transport Minister Stephen Hammond was urged yesterday to back the A47 Alliance campaign and improve the congested blighted road which provides a vital link for Fenland.

Cambridgeshire County Councillor Ian Bates, Cabinet Member for Community and Infrastructure, was part of a delegation with Norfolk counterparts which met the Minister to make the case for improvements.

The Under Secretary of State for Transport heard how an improved road would help reduce rural isolation and boost employment in Fenland and especially around the Wisbech area. He also heard about the work of the Wisbech 2020 Vision to improve the area, create jobs and support communities.

Improving the A47 which links Fenland to other major transport arteries has been the subject of a campaign which includes an alliance of Councils, MPs and other organisations.

Cambridgeshire County Councillor Ian Bates, Cabinet Member for Community and Infrastructure, said: “I urged the Minister to back the campaign to improve this highly used and congested road. Improving the A47 would help boost business and future trade and therefore create jobs and prosperity for the area. Our continued efforts to lobby Government for an improved A47 shows our commitment to Fenland and runs alongside groundbreaking work on the Wisbech 2020 Vision with our local partners. The County Council has been a member of the A47 Alliance for many years. We will continue to push for these improvements although we recognise the difficulties of finding funding for major schemes in a tough financial climate. I would also like to praise the delegation which went to London and the work of Norfolk County Council on leading the A47 Alliance.”

Listening council agrees to delay road repairs – putting business first

Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to move repairs to Huntingdon Ring Road back to the new year after representations from local leaders.

Local traders and residents were worried that the repairs set for overnight on Saturday and Sunday on November 17-18, would be disruptive to shopping in the town in the run up to Christmas and requested they be delayed.

The road repairs were planned after we received complaints from the public about the condition of the road surface.

Although the road closure would have affected only a short stretch of the ring road and was outside of traditional shopping hours, we were happy to listen to the representations on behalf of the local traders and community.

There is much going on and to see in Huntingdon and we have agreed it would appropriate to move the work back until the new year. We must help our hard pressed town centres when ever we can.

The ring road from Ermine Street to Hertford Road was set to be repaired under a road closure between 6.00 pm-1.00 am. It was hoped to complete the work over the two nights, but if problems delayed the work it would have been completed the following weekend.

The work will now be rescheduled to fit in with other repairs schemes around Cambridgeshire which have already been timetabled.