Cambridge guided busway: Bereaved brother calls for urgent review

The brother of a cyclist who died on a guided busway has called for an urgent safety review following the death of a pedestrian in a similar area.

A woman in her 50s was killed by a bus in Cambridge on 26 October.

Rob Moir, whose brother Steve died when he fell in front of a bus in 2018, said he hoped "there will be some urgency now in reviewing the safety issues".

Cambridgeshire County Council said it believed "that overall this is a safe transport infrastructure".

The guided busway runs for 16 miles (26km) between St Ives and Cambridge, and has a track along which buses travel adjacent to a pedestrian pavement and cycleway.

In September 2018, cyclist Steve Moir died in a head-on crash with a bus when he clipped the kerb separating the cycling section from the busway.

Three years on, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into that accident has yet to be completed.

Rob Moir has called for physical separation between the buses and the cycleway, and in November 2020 said: "We've been lucky that nothing similar has happened in the last two years."

The police investigation following the death of the woman, who has yet to be named, on the busway last week remains ongoing.

Mr Moir said it was a "complete tragedy, not just for the family of the lady concerned, but also for those who may have witnessed the incident, not least the bus driver".

"I really hope there will be some urgency now in reviewing the safety issues with a view to practical modifications so that both users of the guided busway and adjacent pathway can co-exist in the knowledge that they are using transport routes that are as safe as can be," he said.

"Clearly this is not the case as it stands."

A Cambridgeshire County Council spokeswoman said the authority was working with police and bus company Stagecoach "to understand what happened following the fatal accident on Tuesday".

"We would again like to extend our deepest sympathies to the woman's family and friends," she continued.

"The question of fencing was considered at the public inquiry into the busway.

"Cambridgeshire County Council believes that overall this is a safe transport infrastructure and continues to keep safety of the busway under review."

The HSE said it had not been notified of the most recent death, and, because an investigation into Mr Moir's death was ongoing, it was unable to comment further.

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