Drivers blame emergency vehicles for flattening plastic 'cycle wands'

Frustrated drivers have claimed emergency service vehicles struggling to get to urgent calls are responsible for flattened ‘cycle wands’ along a main road in Cambridge.

The plastic wands were installed along one of the busiest routes in the university city to provide a separate lane for cyclists – triggering claims it was adding to congestion by removing a second lane for traffic.

Many of them have been run over and are lying flat, meaning they will have to be assessed by council officers before being replaced.

Locals have responded to the news by claiming ambulances and fire engines had driven over them to get around traffic as they raced to jobs.

One said: ‘They’re flattened by emergency vehicles driving over them constantly, as it’s the fastest way to get through traffic.’

Another complained: ‘The wands getting the respect they deserve.

‘Bet it was an emergency vehicle. Have seen them do it to other wands.’

Other comments included: ‘Flattened by emergency vehicles desperately trying to get to someone in need of their help but hindered by backed-up single-file traffic queue along East Road.’

Flattened 'cycle wands' on East Road in Cambridge. Drivers say emergency vehicles are responsible

Some focused on the congestion that the wands had caused as vehicles queue on the road on the approach to a busy roundabout with four exits serving major arteries through the city.

‘Really, what do they expect when they keep taking road space away from the main mode of transport and making lanes too narrow for cars?’ said a contributor.

‘I don't see many push bikes using the road space exclusively allocated to them in the photo.’

Another said: ‘It’s proof that they are in the way of vehicles and serve no purpose, so they should be removed.’

Others said the money should be spent elsewhere, with one saying: ‘Just leave them and fix some potholes instead.....’

One complained: 'Shows what we have in charge of the council these days when they call a plastic road restriction a wand! 

'What next? Fairies on their magic roundabouts?' 

The wands were installed in October 2022 as a ‘temporary’ measure while the road was reconfigured.

The wands were installed to create a separate lane for cyclists but locals say they have caused congestion

The city has introduced a number of 'anti-car' measures, including England's first 'cycle street'

A 'bus gate' on Mill Road has been blamed for killing off footfall for local businesses while generating over £1 million in fines in its first year of use 

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But the road has remained unchanged since then and the remodelling of the route is yet to materialise.

Cycling charity Camcycle praised the wands for making cycling more appealing when they went up but they immediately came under fire.

Vocal opponents included Neil Mackay, owner of Mackay’s hardware store which had stood on the road opposite the safety feature since 1912.

The premises have since moved after he complained barriers to vehicles driving into Cambridge had made the city 'an increasingly difficult place to be a retailer’.

Speaking in 2023, he described seeing an ambulance drive over the wands.

‘I went to ask the fire station commander if they ever took alternative longer routes to an incident rather than transit along East Road,’ he said.

‘His answer was yes – regularly. This fact alone justifies the removal of the congestion-causing wands and the return of the dual carriageway.’

Cambridge is in the grip of a heated debate between motorists and other road users, with many claiming the cycle lobby is too powerful.

The Dutch-style roundabout in Cambridge - drivers have complained about the confusing design

Earlier this month the Mail reported how England’s first ‘cycle street’ had been introduced at a cost of £2.4 million – despite many locals questioning whether it would improve safety.

Evidence then emerged in a Freedom of Information request that cycling statistics used to justify its development had been wildly misleading by stating ‘more than 3,000 cyclists’ used the route every day, when official counts showed it was actually 1,500.

The city also imposed a 'bus gate' in Mill Road, which only allows buses, taxis, pedestrians and cyclists over a bridge – killing off footfall for local businesses while generating over £1 million in fines in its first year of use.

Two years ago, it was announced that a footpath running alongside a £24 million road upgrade would be altered after residents pointed out it was so narrow that pedestrians were at risk of being hit by cyclists.

And Cambridge introduced the UK's first Dutch-style roundabout in 2020 at a cost of £2.3 million but this saw more collisions in its first three years than the previous three years.

Most of the schemes are developed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership, which is made up of local authorities in the area and the university.

Cambridgeshire County Council, which is one of the GCP members, said today: ‘We are aware of the cycle wands on East Road which have been flattened.

‘One of our officers will visit the area to review the damage and replace the wands as required.’