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Grafham to Brampton Quietway Pilot Project

Cambridgeshire County Council propose to designate Brampton Road/Grafham Road (C167) in the parishes of Grafham, Brampton and Buckden as a Quiet Lane under powers contained in the Transport Act 2000 and the Quiet Lanes & Home Zones (England) Regulations 2006.

The effect of the designation will be to promote active travel, improve safety, reduce health inequalities, and to provide a route where there is no primacy for motor vehicles.

A public meeting will be convened on Thursday 15 May time: 4pm-7pm, address: Grafham Village Hall, Van Diemens Way, Grafham, PE28 0GB to discuss the proposal.

If you would like to comment on the proposals, please do so by writing to Active Travel, PO Box ALC2634, New Shire Hall, Emery Crescent, Enterprise Campus, Weald, Huntingdon PE28 4YE or activetravel@cambridgeshire.gov.uk quoting the reference PR1126, to be received no later than 5 June 2025.

What are Quietways?

Quietways are intended to reduce vehicle speeds and improve highway conditions for active travel and other non-motorised activities. This includes walking, wheeling (wheelchairs, motorised scooters etc), cycling and horse riding.

In particular, we want to open up opportunities for a wider range of people, including more vulnerable users such as children and older people. Brampton Road is a designated National Cycle Network (NCN) route, forming part of NCN12.

The County Council is working in collaboration with Sustrans, who as custodians of the NCN, are responsible for its maintenance and improvement. Funding for this project has been provided by Active Travel England, a national government executive agency.

Get involved

The project and the development of design ideas will be community led, with the project team seeking to engage with the local community to co-design a solution which has the support of the local community.

The engagement and design stage of the project will be delivered in two phases.

Phase One

From late 2024 to early 2025, we will develop an understanding of local issues and opportunities.

Two community engagement events were held in November 2024 to allow residents and local stakeholders the opportunity to meet members of the project team and share their views on Brampton Road.

At this stage there will be a focus on understanding and sharing local experiences of, and around, Brampton Road. The project team are keen to better understand what is working and what could be improved - with local people at the heart of this conversation.

We will be holding pop-up events in the local area in key locations and meeting with other local stakeholders. We will ensure that all residents that want to engage with this project get the opportunity to do so. Some of these activities will be advertised and others will be impromptu (depending on weather and locations).

Phase Two

Between January and March 2025, We will hold a series of community co-design events to develop, test and gather feedback on design ideas to improve the road. Based on this feedback, a final design option will be developed with the intention to implement and monitor it on a trial basis. The trial would be closely monitored and the dialogue with residents will continue.

There is no design at this time and any trial will be developed following this engagement process. The timing and duration of the trial are yet to be determined and will be informed by the design and local approval processes. This is an opportunity to draw additional funding into the area and showcase what might be possible in rural areas to open up opportunities for greater participation in walking, cycling and wheeling.

Frequently asked questions

Sustrans is the ‘custodian’ of the National Cycle Network and experienced in delivery (engagement, transport planning and engineering) of changes to streets and spaces.

Sustrans has been funded by the Department of Transport (via Active Travel England) to work in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council to carry out engagement and to look at how rural roads could be improved to make them safer for walking, cycling, wheeling (wheelchair etc) and horse riding.

The funding allocated to this project is to develop new or innovative ways to improve conditions on rural roads for walking, cycling, and wheeling – which also benefits other pastimes such as horse riding. Three local authorities in England (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk have been selected).

The trial(s) involved in this project are unknown, but they may draw from examples elsewhere in the world or be a new approach specific to this location. As this is only a trial, it allows experimentation with non-permanent changes, therefore it can be amended, changed or entirely removed. 

The relatively low numbers of people walking and cycling on Brampton Road. The fact local residents are limited to primarily relying on private motor vehicles (as opposed, where appropriate, to using a cycle).

Vehicle speeds of in excess of 35mph can be entirely inappropriate for the conditions on the road and are detrimental to encouraging wider participation, particularly from more vulnerable groups.

Sustrans are committed improving the National Cycle Network, which ranks Brampton Road as currently ‘poor’ for cycling.  

October 2024 - two online briefing sessions for local councillors.

November 2024 - two community drop-in events in Brampton and Grafham.

January 2025 – pop-up engagement sessions and a further two online briefing sessions for local councillors.

February and March 2025 – an online workshop with local organisations and other key stakeholders, a further pop-up engagement session at Grafham Water, and two co-design workshops. Additionally, a survey will be advertised and distributed across a wide area, including Huntingdon, aiming to gather additional feedback and comments from the local community with a focus on solutions to issues identified so far.

The trial isn’t permanent and can be amended or removed as necessary. The trial will be monitored closely. 

Any changes to the highway will need to go through the appropriate Cambridgeshire County Council governance processes, and approved by elected members if necessary.

A meaningful opportunity to test proposed changes to the highway that provide an opportunity for wider participation in walking, cycling, wheeling, and other non-motorised activities such as horse riding.

Any proposed changes are being developed in close collaboration with local residents and other stakeholders. 

The news that Network Rail would need to close Brampton Road for 6 weeks to carry out bridge repairs felt, at the time, like an opportunity to carry out a temporary trial to understand the impact of keeping the closure in place. Once works had been completed, the idea was to potentially look to continue the closure to vehicles but making it open to pedestrians and cyclists for a limited period of time.

This was an initial idea, brought about by the circumstances around Network Rail's need to carry out the repairs. However, based on the strength of local feeling, it was decided not pursue that option and the road has reopened.

Residents of much of Brampton, Grafham, Perry, Buckden, and Ellington will have received an update letter w/c 18 November 2024. This was supported by communications that went out to councillors w/c 11 November 2024. 

Communication with local councillors, who will share information accordingly, will continue and posters will be placed in key local locations advertising specific design workshops in the new year as well as online promotion on this webpage and local media.

If you do not have access to the internet or have other accessibility concerns, please contact Sustrans on 0207-017-2350 and speak to Adrian Hooper or Ben Addy.

This section will be updated as new questions are received.

Contact us

If you have any further questions, please do contact us at activetravel@cambridgeshire.gov.uk or Sustrans eastofengland@sustrans.org.uk