'Greenway' path linking villages gets upgrade

Councils are trying to make cycling easier in Cambridgeshire villages

Work is starting on improvements to a walking and cycling path linking two villages, council members say.

The path between Melbourn and the railway station in neighbouring Meldreth is being upgraded by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP).

A spokesman for the partnership, a group made up of councils in Cambridgeshire, said work would last 11 weeks.

County councillor Susan van de Ven said people had wanted upgrades for a "long time".

The path is expected to closed for the best part of three months

The GCP said the path, which runs through fields and under the A10, would be widened and resurfaced, lighting would be improved and parking for bicycles added.

Work was part of the Melbourn Greenway, a project to improve connections between villages on the route between Cambridge and Royston in Hertfordshire.

The GCP said that while work was continuing, a diversion route for walking and cycling would be in place.

Elisa Meschini hopes a path upgrade will encourage more people to try cycling

"Many people who live, work and study in the Meldreth and Melbourn area, and who depend on getting around without a car, have been pressing for these upgrades for a long time," said Ms van de Ven, a Liberal Democrat who represents Melbourn and Bassingbourn.

"We can’t wait to open the new and improved path."

Elisa Meschini, a Labour member of Cambridgeshire County Council who chairs the GCP executive board, added: "This is a popular route and will be difficult to have closed, but at the end a wider, smoother and better lit path will take some of the stress out of everyday journeys, and help more people to try out walking or cycling."

A councillor says improving the path take some "stress" out of journeys

The GCP said the route was one of 12 new Greenways projects and preparatory works for widening a Barton Road path, heading west out of Cambridge, were also starting.

The GCP said the Barton Greenway would improve connections between Barton, Cambridge and Grantchester.

A spokesman added: "The GCP has already delivered junction improvements and 20mph speed limits in Comberton and a wider path between Fen Ditton Primary School and Horningsea, returning in the autumn to complete the Horningsea Greenway.

"Works are also underway on the Cowley Road [in Cambridge] to expand space for walking and cycling on what could later become a Greenway to Waterbeach."

The Meldreth-Melbourn path is one of 12 'greenway' projects