Coton cycle-path

[Jeremy Johnson]

Just come back from a bit of a recce over the Coton cycle-path bridge.

It's still officially closed.

HOWEVER, the bridge itself iis useable - it's no longer fenced at each end, and provided you can get to it you can get across the M11.  All the paths leading to it have been blocked off, although this has been done in a fairly porus fashion (provided you have as little respect for officialdom as I do).  If you;re crossing east-to-west, you can hop over the fence to the left just before the blocking-off fence, then hop back across just afterwards, which gets you onto the bridge.  At the other end, after you;ve gone down the access slope, hop over the locked kissing-gate on the right-angled bend, then just before you get to the end of the nature-reserve, hop over the fence on the left and run across to the concrete track - from there you can access all the normal pathways.  Probably not all that practical on a bike, though

The closure was due to end this weekend, but predictably they've over-run again.  I suspect that they are  now intending to continue the closure right up until the point in May that they intend closing the cycle-path completely for an as-yet-to-be-specified 'extended period' whilst they re-route and re-surface it around the sports-centre.  So my guess is that the path/bridge won;t officially open at all this year.  I'm not certain of this, but I THINK that footpaths not used for more than a year lose some official status - so this might (inadvertently)  permit some kind of legal move to extinguish it as a PROW - but I'm not a lawyer so not certain of that.  Maybe someone who is could check?

THought this might be useful for those planning Congs etc

Jeremy

[Alec Hawkes]

A landowner has to be able to prove that a footpath has been unused for 20 (twenty) years in order to have it permanently closed. The re-routing should be completed a little bit before then.

BS

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[Jeremy Johnson]

cool - that's one worry off the books then.  Thanks Alec!

J

[Robin Forder]

The Coton path is included in the Comberton Greenway, so I am sceptical that there is a plan to undo PROW.

Robin.

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On 7 Mar 2021, at 18:58, Jeremy Johnson <jer...@paribus.com> wrote:



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[Jeremy Johnson]

I didn;t think it was a plan - merely an unintentional risk.  However, it appears that the risk is actually minimal to zero

J

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[Lisa Dawson]

Hi, 

The bridge is opening tomorrow.  They will be back sometime to resurface (and widen) from the end of the tarmac road (Coton side) to the foot of the ramp, and that will involve closing again.

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[Lisa Dawson]

>The bridge is opening tomorrow.  They will be back sometime to resurface (and widen) from the end of the tarmac road (Coton side) to the foot of the ramp, and that will involve closing again.

I got that info from the workmen there yesterday, but this morning the new story is that the resurfacing is happening now, so no official reopening yet. Unofficial access is easy, but a bit of a faff with a bike!

[Jeremy Johnson]

Thanks, Lisa!  

I must admit that it looked pretty inaccessible for bikes yesterday - the diggers have made a total mess of the path between the bridge and the first turning into the West Cam site, so I suspect they'll have quite a bit of work to do :-(    FIngers crossed!

Jeremy

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[jpm.g...@gmail.com]

Summary:  sort-of-open-but-not

I wandered up that way yesterday.  The builders' fenced compound on the West Cambridge site has been completely removed, and the path from there to the bridge is fully open.

The bridge has a couple of oddly placed bits of fencing half-across it;  at the Coton end of the bridge is a "temporary road surface" sign.  The path between the bridge and Coton playing-fields has been scraped down to the earth and is clearly about to be relaid (in places it's partly blocked by huge piles of stones that'll be used for this).

Then you get to the playing-fields, and discover that not only is it still blocked there, but they've extended the fence over the ditch on the right so it's really impassable.

Fortunately, if you go back 50m, it's trivial to hop over the fence into the wooded area, and then over the fence into the field ...

Arnhem.

[Lisa Dawson]

Update: Final resurfacing work is happening tomorrow. The bridge will be fully open by tomorrow evening. 

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[George Jellicoe]

Patrick; no head bashing! Go over it not under it.

Jb’n

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On 20 Apr 2021, at 16:17, Lisa Dawson <lisah...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Alec Hawkes]

If you can’t wait that long there is a good bus and coach service from Drummer Street through to Bedford. The driver might agree to drop you off near Coton Orchard.

BS

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[jpm.g...@gmail.com]

Halelujah!  It's open!  (I went through at about 4.40pm this evening, and the tarmac at the Coton end was still hot).

Bets on how long until someone complains about how rough they've left the West Cambridge section of path and they have to close it again?

-arnhem

[Jeremy Johnson]

they're due to close the west cambridge to cavendish section for a few months for path re-routing in about 3 weeks, as I recall.  Timing is, of course, the art of good comedy...  :-)

FF

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