Cambridge's £24m Milton Road pathway too narrow - resident

The telegraph pole narrows a pedestrian pathway to 0.9m (2.6ft), leaving elderly residents struggling to get stay safely on the path, said Paul Raeburn

A new pedestrian path is too narrow and restricted by street furniture, which could result in people getting hurt, according to a resident.

The multimillion-pound upgrade of Milton Road, Cambridge, by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) includes new, wider cycle paths.

But Paul Raeburn said "elderly residents" struggled to get past lamp posts and a telegraph pole on the path.

The GCP's Tom Porter said the body would rectify the affected areas.

In a second area, there is a lamp post within the path designated for pedestrians as part of the multimillion-pound scheme

The Greater Cambridge Partnership is also improving junctions to make the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists

The project, which the GCP said would cost £24m in 2022 and take two years to complete, includes new cycle lanes off the road on both sides, alongside pedestrian paths.

In one area, a telegraph pole is within the pedestrian walkway, causing it to narrow to 0.9m (2.6ft), while in others there are lamp posts.

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Mr Raeburn said: "We've got lot of elderly residents in the area and if they are disabled, or they are in a wheelchair, or they have another person helping them to walk along there, they need to be able to get past the obstacles of the street furniture that's in place."

He said they can only do so by going into the adjacent cycle path, which is nearly 2m wide (6.5ft), or into residents' gardens.

Tom Porter said the GCP plans to rectify the worst pinch points

Mr Porter, the scheme's project manager, said: "We are aware that this section is too tight and we're going to rectify it."

The GCP plans to move the central kerb back slightly to accommodate the changes.

He added the GCP designed its scheme within "the constraints of the highway and the highway boundary" and had moved some of the "particularly obstructive" bits of street furniture already.

However utility boxes, which Mr Raeburn was also concerned about, would remain on the path for pedestrians.

"To move all of these for the sake of a couple of hundred millimetres throughout the entire length of the scheme is just not a feasible prospect," he said.