New bus route being redone due to 'larger buses'

A developer says it is redoing a bus route in a new town because of "larger buses".

The additional work is taking place at Northstowe, near Cambridge, set to become the UK's biggest new town since Milton Keynes.

There are plans for more than 10,000 homes at the site. Work began in 2016.

A spokesperson for developer Urban&Civic said: "These works are to optimise the route for a change in the bus fleet, which is larger than the buses the route was originally designed for."

Local councillor Dan Lentell described it as "embarrassing" and said residents were "fed-up" with constant dust and noise.

Lentell, an Independent on South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: "You can see that this brand new road has been dug up because the busway has to be made larger because whoever designed it didn't design it for two buses to pass each other at this particular corner.

"This surely has to be the moment that we turn around and say 'come on, a busway that doesn't have space for two buses to pass each other, we can do better than this'."

The Urban&Civic spokesperson added: "Some locations along the bus-only route in phase one are being widened slightly as part of the road-finishing works contract.

"The changes are being made in a few locations to reduce pinch points as these new, larger buses pass each other.

"These works are due to be complete in the summer of 2026."

Bus operator Stagecoach has been approached for comment.

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