Update – October 2024
On Friday 4 October, a special Highways and Transport committee voted to approve the modal filter on Mill Road bridge. This means the bridge will be closed to all motor vehicles, except buses, pedestrians, cyclists, emergency services, taxis and blue badge holders’ registered vehicles.
Mill Road bridge bus gate - extended warning period begins on Monday 9 December 2024
Restrictions at the Mill Road bridge bus gate have now started, along with an extended warning period for drivers to get used to the new layout.
Vehicles allowed over the bridge include
- Local buses
- Taxis (both hackney carriages and private hire vehicles)
- Blue badge holders (up to two vehicles can be registered)
- Vehicles in a disabled tax class
- NHS tax-exempt vehicles
- Vehicles on the Council’s Permitted Vehicles List
Pedestrians and cyclists are also allowed over the bridge.
The Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) became enforceable on 1 December; from 9 December until the end of January 2025 drivers, who are not exempt, are warned not to drive over the bridge. We’ll be monitoring with civil parking enforcement officers and signs will be displayed. This is a warning period only – no fines or official warning notices will be issued.
At the end of January 2025, there will be a further warning period when non-exempt vehicles will receive warning notices only; if they are exempt, they will be encouraged to register online. Fines are not expected to come into effect until March. The bus gate will be enforced by Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras (ANPR).
More information including the exemption criteria will be updated on our website soon. We’ll be reaching out to care agencies separately to make them aware of both the restrictions and exemptions.
Blue badge holders
The closure will be implemented as a bus gate and blue badge holders will need to register up to two vehicles for exemption via our online form.
The exemption does not apply to any other bus gates or lanes in Cambridge.
Find out who can apply for a blue badge here
TRO documents
Get in touch
If you have any questions about the TRO, please email policy.andregulation@cambridgeshire.gov.uk, quoting reference PR1058; and if you have any questions about the Mill Road Bus Gate project, please email Local.Highways@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Background
Between June 2020 and early August 2021, Mill Road bridge was temporarily closed to most vehicles under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO). The closure was part of a government-funded scheme to help people socially distance and encourage walking and cycling during the Covid pandemic. When the order was removed and the bridge reopened in summer 2021, the Highways and Transport committee asked the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) to review and consult on options for Mill Road to promote active travel and tackle air quality and congestion.
The GCP consultation in 2022, which included focus groups of key stakeholders and two public workshops, showed that there was a desire to see traffic reduced while maintaining access for those who need it, including people with disabilities and taxis. There was also a wish to see the environment enhanced along Mill Road, including improving the public realm.
After reviewing the consultation, the Highways and Transport committee at its meeting on 12 July 2022 agreed to introduce a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to reinstate the modal filter on Mill Road. The committee was clear the TRO should include new exemptions, allowing blue badge holders and taxis over the bridge.
On Tuesday, 7 March 2023, members of the Highways and Transport committee voted to reinstate the Mill Road bridge closure to all motor vehicles, except buses, cyclists, emergency services, taxis and blue badge holders. The TRO was made and sealed on 14 June 2023.
The TRO was subsequently challenged in the courts and as a result the County Council agreed not to implement any of the planned changes until the legal case was resolved.
At the end of July, the County Council agreed with the claimant to end legal proceedings in relation to the Mill Road Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) challenge and decided to undertake the consultation and decision-making process on the traffic regulation order again.
A statutory consultation on the proposed Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to close Mill Road bridge to all vehicles, except buses, bicycles, emergency services, taxis, and blue badge holders – who may apply to register up to two vehicles on the Permitted Vehicles List for the Mill Road bus gate - ran from 9 August until 13 September.
A report was presented at a special Highways and Transport committee meeting on Friday 4 October to make a decision about the TRO. Read the report on the CMIS Cambridgeshire website.
Public realm scheme
In addition, the County Council is planning to improve the public realm, walking and cycling provision along Mill Road. This will include general improvements not included in the consultation such as, additional cycle parking, signage and decluttering the highway.
The potential public realm changes are being considered in collaboration with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and the Greater Cambridge Partnership.
