Today (Tuesday, 6 October), at a meeting of the Highways & Transport Committee nearly £1M was allocated to community requested Local Highways Improvements and 20mph projects.
Reports were approved by the committee which recommended delivery of 79 Local Highway Improvement schemes and seven new 20mph projects, as part of the council’s 2026-27 delivery programme. Both programmes are primarily community-driven and rely on applications from local groups, parish and town councils.
Cambridgeshire County Council had been budgeted £150,000 to fund new 20mph schemes in 2026-27. 82 applications from community groups were received countywide as part of this year’s funding round, which were then scored, prioritised and moderated to ensure consistency.
Data received by the committee in September suggested that previously introduced 20mph schemes had achieved statistically significant speed reductions and indicates a reduction of collisions in all those areas to date, with a longer monitoring period required to increase the validity of those results.
At today’s committee meeting, councillors agreed to progress the seven highest scoring community applications: Elsworth, Great Paxton, Sawston, Kimbolton and Stonely, Balsham, Rampton and West Wratting.
For each of these schemes, further local engagement and a statutory consultation will be undertaken by the council to assess the level of local support, prior to final confirmation of delivery.
Councillors at the meeting also separately approved the proposed Local Highway Improvements (LHI) Programme for 2026-27. The LHI initiative gives local community groups, as well as parish and town councils, an opportunity to apply for highway improvements that would not normally be prioritised by the council.
Projects previously funded through this programme include traffic-calming measures and crossing improvements that aim to improve road safety and support active travel. Local groups are invited to apply for funding of up to £25,000 per project, subject to those groups providing at least 10% of the total cost of the scheme.
£820,000 had been budgeted to the 2026-27 LHI Programme, with this funding allocated proportionally by population to each district area within Cambridgeshire.
168 community-led applications were received and, prior to the committee meeting, 79 of these projects were identified for inclusion in the proposed delivery programme – following scoring, prioritisation and review by a working group of councillors.
Schemes approved for delivery in the current programme include:
- 10 projects in East Cambridgeshire, including traffic calming and a speed limit reduction on A10 at Stretham; traffic calming measures on A1123 at Wilburton; parking and safety improvements on Bottisham High Street and speed activated warning signs for several villages.
- 7 projects in Fenland, such as priority chicanes to help calm traffic on Teal Road in Whittlesey, junction improvements between Barton Road and Mile Tree Lane in Wisbech, a speed limit reduction for Redmoor Lane between Wisbech and Elm and street lighting improvements in Tydd St Giles.
- 19 projects in Huntingdonshire, including new zebra crossings for American Lane, Huntingdon and Church Walk, St Neots, new road markings for Mill Road, Buckden, a 30mph speed limit extension and parking restrictions for Hill Rise and Marley Road in St Ives.
- 19 projects in South Cambridgeshire, such as traffic calming measures in Pampisford, Linton, and Foxton; a new zebra crossing in Dry Drayton; new parking restrictions to Milton, Bar Hill, Elsworth and Little Abington; and speed activated warning signs for villages including Orwell, Madingley, and Meldreth.
- 24 projects in Cambridge City, including designating an existing route along Barnwell Road in Abbey Ward for Active Travel, safety improvements between Cambridge North Station and Moss Bank, and improvements to street lighting in Green Park, Kings Hedges.
Cllr Alex Beckett, chair of the Highways & Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “It’s brilliant to see continued high levels of locally-led applications to both our 20mph and LHI schemes from across the county. Confirming nearly £1M of funding for these schemes today highlights our commitment to empowering local communities to take a leading role in making their streets safer, encouraging healthier, more active travel where they live.
“I’m extremely proud of the community driven programmes approved today which will make a meaningful difference to people’s lives across Cambridgeshire, helping us all to live more healthily and sustainably as part of well-connected and engaged communities.”
The next application window for communities to request 20mph schemes opens in early November and will close in May 2027. The next application window for the LHI scheme is yet to be confirmed.
The reports considered by the committee today can be found on our website and you can watch a recording of the meeting, which was live streamed, on our YouTube channel.
