September 2018 – Katie Thornburrow

How Can We Make the Guided Busway Safer?

The tragic death of Steve Moir as he cycled from Cambridge Assessment’s office along the guided busway on the narrow section between the station and Long Road has saddened all of us, and my thoughts and sympathy are with his family, friends and colleagues. It is the first time such an accident has happened, and it has shown clearly what many people have been saying for years: that stretch of the busway is a massive public safety risk, and it cannot be allowed to run as it does now.

Unless we act now others will die or be injured, like the unfortunate tourist who was unaware that buses ran along what he thought was a water channel and was clipped by a bus, or the passengers hurt when buses have derailed.

My view is that the single thing that would make a real difference would be to reduce the speed of the buses to 20mph in that area, at least until robust safety measures can be put in place. The slight increase in journey times and need to rethink the timetable is surely worth it if it reduces the chance of a pedestrian or cyclist being injured or killed? If properly enforced it will also reduce the risk to passengers.

Continue reading “How Can We Make the Guided Busway Safer?”

Safety on the guided busway

Yesterday we heard about the tragic death of a cyclist on the guided busway after a collision with a bus. This is under investigation now, and we must not draw conclusions about the circumstances of the incident, but my thoughts are with their family and friends.

It was less than three months ago that I was walking down the Trumpington section of the guided busway with four members of the highways safety and cycling team to discuss options for improving the safety of this route for pedestrians and cyclists. I had also met with one of the bus operators the previous day.

My main request was to have the speed on the buses reduced on the section from Clay Farm to where it joined the road near the station, from 53mph to 20 or 30 mph. I had calculated that this would only increase the journey time for this section by about 3 minutes. It was agreed that some visibility issues could be improved, along with highlighting the raised kerb of the track and the provision of warning signs, but the option for reducing the speed of the vehicles was not within their powers.

Some of the issues were explained to me. The guided bus tracks were on private land, speed limits could not be enforced and, most crucially, it was not a road so the police had no jurisdiction, but it was not a railway either, so the Health and Safety Executive had no jurisdiction either – there seems to be no single body accountable for safety on the busway.

After yesterday’s awful accident I think we find a way to make progress here, before something else happens. It has highlighted again how vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists can be to large vehicles that travel at speed close to the pathway. I use this route often and sometimes get frightened by the fast, heavy vehicles.

As well as safety measures like road markings, surely is it time for an accountable safety body to be put in place. What other vehicle transport system does not have this?

Why I support a People’s Vote on the Final Brexit Deal

As a Labour campaigner and now councillor, I’ve always been clear that I support the EU and voted to remain in the 2016 referendum. I have said many time that I would work hard to minimise the negative impact of Brexit on Trumpington and the whole of Cambridge. While leaving the EU now seems inevitable, there are many issues to consider.

First, it seems to me that there’s a strong case to investigate the 2016 referendum, and that the Electoral Commission is not equipped to do this. In August over 50 MPs and peers wrote to the Metropolitan Police and the National Crime Agency asking them to investigate the Vote Leave and Leave.EU campaigns, and I support this too. If an investigation discovers that the referendum was compromised then we have to ask whether we want to rerun it under more careful supervision, or not.

It would be simplest if the Article 50 process could be paused until these investigations were complete, but the political reality is that this is very unlikely to happen – neither the British government nor the EU27 seem to see it as a possibility.

Since it seems unlikely that there will be an investigation, we should ask what else can be done.

Continue reading “Why I support a People’s Vote on the Final Brexit Deal”

My new role as Executive Councillor

There have been changes to the executive of the City Council and on August 15 I became Executive Councillor for Streets and Open Spaces. As a result I’ve stepped down from the the Planning and Transport Scrutiny Committee and the Housing Scrutiny Committee.

This is an enormous privilege. I look forward to ensuring that all allotments are in full use and the streets and toilets are clean – as well as delivering Labour’s vision for Cambridge, tackling climate change and making the city cleaner and greener.

Please note that my brief has now changed and as of June 2021 I am Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport, having covered Streets and Open Spaces 2018-2019 and Planning Policy and Open Spaces 2019-2021