• Bridge Street has a cycle ban during office hours Monday to Saturday.  On Sunday cycling is permitted during the day.  Sunday is just as busy as the rest of the week nowadays so why is this silly ban there? 

Bad design and the encroachement of cafe's over time has contributed to this situation.  The Council is keen to receive revenue money from the commercial enterprises using the space but it is reluctant to design in a cycle route.  This is the main link between the north and the south of the city, yet for a lot of the time you can't cycle there.  The routes the Council suggest you use instead are either gated alot of the time or you have to cycle on the pavement and then through an area that is used as a public toilet.

Is this a city that really wants to be an Environment City or is it just words?   Would you like to see a cycle route down Bridge Street?  Let us know what your thoughts are through our forum page.

Latest news on the campaign (most recent first)

• 14 April 2009.  We have heard that the Peterborough City Council intend to carry out some work on Bridge Street relatively soon.  We have asked them if they are going to include installing some cycle facilities or remove the ban, etc.  As soon  as we get a response it will be posted.

• Finally we have received a response from Cambridgeshire Constabularly regarding the  number of formal complaints made to the Police from the general public about cyclists cycling on Bridge Street,
  Peterborough during the cycle ban hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday over the period of the last twelve months.  Their response was:-

"We  have  been  unable to locate any recorded information."

Clearly the general public are not annoyed enough by cyclists to put in a formal complaint. 

• We have requested information on the number of complaints that the Police have received from members of the public about cyclists riding on Bride Street during the cycle ban hours.
• Cambridgeshire Constabulary have responded to our freedom of information request to find out how many accidents there have been on Bridge Street between cyclists and pedestrians.  Their statement is below.

"From  the  information we hold we can advise that between 01/01/2006 and 01/09/2008  we  have  no recorded collisions in Bridge Street, Peterborough between cyclists and pedestrians."

• We discovered that Travelchoice (part of Peterborough City Council) are reviewing the Bridge Street cycle ban.  We asked for more information about this and received the following response.

"I write further to your enquiry of 15 August regarding the method Travelchoice are using to review the cycle ban on Bridge Street. Travelchoice have carried out a number of counts from 8.00 am - 6.00 pm along Bridge Street. This data collection process is not yet complete and will be continuing over  the coming months. This observed data will be combined with information on public perceptions, opinions and accident records. Recommendations will then be made based on the data collected. Unfortunately, at this stage it is not possible to say what these recommendations will be as we do not have all the information required."

What do you think? Let us know on our forum page.

• Through a Freedom of Information request we have asked for the history behind the cycle restrictions on Bridge Street from the Council, including whether and what if any statistical information was involved.  Peterborough City Council's responded and could not provide us with any of the reasons for the introduction of the ban or what information they used for the proposal.  Their respons is below.  

  "A cycling ban was first introduced on Bridge Street in 1987 (covering the hours of 10am to 4pm, Monday – Saturday), following the results of the experimental ban (covering the same days and times) introduced in 1985.  This order was subsequently amended in 1988 to bring the starting time forward by an hour to 9am.

  "The current ban that prohibits cycling in Bridge Street between 9am and 6pm Monday – Saturday inclusive, was introduced in 1995 following the results of the experimental ban (covering the same days and times) introduced in 1994.

  "The ban is enabled by a Traffic Regulation Order made under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

  "The documentary evidence of the rationale for its introduction, or the original accident data, is no longer held.

  "Through the Travelchoice project, the council are currently reviewing the impact of cycling restrictions in Bridge Street. The outcome of this work will inform future policy decisions.

  "In addition, the Peterborough Public Realm Strategy, published in May 2008, notes that:

  “In the historic core cyclists should be able to share the space with pedestrians with surface materials providing a high quality finish for use by both pedestrians and cyclists. Adequate bicycle parking facilities need to be provided at key destinations – in the historic core and in each new Quarter of the city - to discourage careless bicycle parking. There is a natural concern about conflicts between cyclists and motorists on the one hand and pedestrians on the other. Potential conflicts, in particular between pedestrians and cyclists can be addressed through good design, education of use and common sense as demonstrated elsewhere in the UK.”

  "These principles will be taken into account in the final design of the public realm improvements.", PCC, 12 August 2008.

• We have requested from Cambridgeshire Police under the FOI Act the number of accidents that have been reported on Bridge Street on Sundays over the last three years.  This is delayed at the moment at their end at the moment.
• A press release requesting for people's views on the cycle ban on Bridge Street was released on the 25 July 2008.  Many new people visited the site to help us and give us their opinion.  Thank you to all those who did so or sent us an email with their views.  It is very useful.