Cambridge group Mill Road for People (MR4P), which campaigns for a low-traffic, accessible and attractive Mill Road, has just welcomed its 1,000th signed-up supporter. He is Robin Steed Lehmann who told MR4P that he joined because safe walking and cycling routes give teenagers like him the freedom they need to move around the city.
Like many others his age, he says he wants to be able to visit friends and attend activities cheaply, easily, and independently.
Robin is also concerned about the impact of climate change on his future.
“We know we need to adapt to a life with much less reliance on fossil fuels,” he says. “Promoting safe active travel is an important part of this and will also help to keep us healthy as adults.”
Supporters sign up via the MR4P website (www.millroad4people.org ) and have to confirm that they agree with the group’s 8 core goals. Roughly two thirds of current supporters live in Romsey and Petersfield, the two wards most affected by the high volumes of traffic on Mill Road.
Most have joined either after receiving one of MR4P’s leaflets or talking to members at one of their frequent street stalls.
The popular ‘PaveMeant4People’ campaign has also attracted new supporters.
MR4P’s supporters have a wide variety of reasons for signing up.
For example, Andrea Zolnhofer, a local parent, explains: “I have multiple sclerosis and my doctors have stressed that keeping active will help delay the progress of the disease. I have a friend with Parkinson’s who is in a similar situation. Many invisible disabilities, including those connected with mental health, can be helped by keeping active.
“I love cycling and it’s cool, but I’d really like to feel safer on Mill Road.”
Dodie Carter and her partner Tom Sheerin are long-term local residents.
“I’ve lived near Mill Road for decades and congestion has got worse and worse”, Dodie says. “I try to shop locally, but when the traffic is bad, I hop on a bus and go somewhere else instead. And Tom has to use a mobility scooter, which is almost impossible with pavement parking and the current state of the pavements.”
Dodie also has four grandchildren who were brought up locally and still visit her frequently.
“I try not to worry when they come on their bikes, but I don’t feel Mill Road is safe and they can’t avoid it entirely. According to the local plan, Mill Road shouldn’t be a through road, and I can’t understand why our politicians haven’t done something about it.”
MR4P chair Paul Lythgoe says: “Reaching a thousand signed-up supporters is clear evidence of how much our ideas resonate with local residents.
“We call on Cambridgeshire County Council to implement the bus gate and streetscape improvements as soon as possible and also to do something about access to the railway station, which is currently a real barrier to traffic reduction in Petersfield.’
