St Neots foot and cycle bridge

Background

In 2001, residents were asked for their views on the St Neots Market Town Transport Strategy. Walking and cycling improvements were felt to be important for a growing town and proposals for both a southern and northern foot and cycle bridge were supported. The southern Willow Bridge opened in 2011, providing a safe, direct and accessible link to encourage more journeys by foot and bicycle.

In 2017 and 2018, we conducted public consultations asking St Neots residents to have their say on:

  • If they supported the project
  • The preferred location of a bridge
  • Possible designs for a bridge

Based on results, it was decided to locate the new foot and cycle bridge to the north of the Town Bridge in St Neots. It will provide a link from Regatta Meadow to the west and Priory Lane to the east. The chosen design is a suspension bridge.

This project is part of the wider masterplan for St Neots, which is in partnership with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Huntingdonshire District Counci and St Neots Town Council. It brings forward £5.8 million of investment and initiatives to St Neots to pave the way for accelerated growth.

Current stage of project

Since March 2019, the county council has been working with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) on the next phase of the St Neots foot and cycle bridge, which has seen the design developed further in preparation for the submission of a planning application for the new bridge.

On 28 February 2020, a report went to the CPCA's Transport Committee on the St Neots foot and cycle bridge, seeking recommendation from the Transport and Infrastructure Committee to the Combined Authority Board that the scheme should not proceed as it no longer meets the requirements for Value for Money set out in the CPCA's Assurance Framework.

The project no longer offers value for money and, as this is a joint scheme with CPCA, following the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, we will now take this back to the county council's Economy and Environment Committee to consider the options available.

Project timeline

In 2001, residents were asked for their views on the St Neots Market Town Transport Strategy. Walking and cycling improvements were felt to be important for a growing town and proposals for both a southern and northern foot and cycle bridge were supported. The southern Willow Bridge opened in 2011, providing a safe, direct and accessible link to encourage more journeys by foot and bicycle.

In 2017, a public consultation was held asking St Neots residents to have their say if they supported the northern foot and cycle bridge project as a whole and which bridge location they prefer. There were 1,079 respondents, with 76.7% supporting the project and 60.6% preferring the final location shown. This was approved by Cambridgeshire County Council’s Economy and Environment Committee in December 2017. 

In August 2018, we held a public consultation on three possible designs for the new bridge. A report detailing the results of this consultation, available on the Cambridgeshire CMIS website, was discussed at the Economy and Environment Committee on 15 November 2018. Based on these results, the suspension bridge design was chosen and agreed to. 

Agreement at the Economy and Environment Committee on 15 November 2018 for the suspension bridge design. The committee papers can be viewed on our Cambridgeshire CMIS website.

In March 2019, the design contract for the new bridge was awarded to engineering and professional services consultancy, WSP.

Documents

Design images and maps, as well as the architect report, are available to view below.

Design drawing of a Suspension Bridge over the Great Ouse in St Neots
Suspension Bridge
The bridge will cross the River Great Ouse from Regatta Meadow to Priory Lane
Location of new foot and cycle bridge as decided in 2017
St Neots bridge Knight Architects final report12.4MB–pdf
Size: 12.4MBFile format: pdf
Story of St Neots Northern Foot and Cycle Bridge so far

Recap

In 2017, we held a consultation for the bridge location:

  • 1,079 responses to consultation
  • 77.7% people in favour of having a bridge
  • 60% people in favour of location chosen

2018

We held a six week consultation for the bridge design.

  • 14,000 leaflets and postcards delivered to local residents and businesses
  • 1,454 responses to the consultation
  • 78% in favour of improving transport links in St Neots
  • 104,200 people reached on social media
  • 4,732 website views
  • Three public events

Feedback included:

  • "Bridge must complement the surrounding area"
  • "Consider impact on local events"
  • "Bridge will ease traffic congestion"
  • "Spend the money on roads / improving the town centre instead"
  • "Concerned about impact on view"
  • "Must be environmentally friendly"

Next steps

Approval was given at Cambridgeshire County Council's Economy and Environment Committee to progress with the suspension bridge design option.

A planning application is being prepared for submission by spring 2020. The current programme indicates that construction could start by autumn 2020.