Update 26 June: there will be no side bridge built for pedestrians and cyclists.  Instead, the bridge will be demolished in a way that allows for a path to remain.  However, this will be closed completely (from 8.45am to 8.45pm) on Friday July 5 to Monday July 8, Thursday July 11 to Saturday July 13, Sunday July 28 to Wednesday July 31 and Saturday August 3 until Monday August 5.
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Edit 4 June 2019: Stagecoach have announced the timetable for the disrupted period from 1st July. This will be supplemented by free Dial-a-Ride services for those in need.
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Further to our post from 7 May (Mill Road bridge closures July/August 2019), the Cambridge Area Bus Users group have provided an update.

They report that Stagecoach will be bringing in three 15 seater buses, one for each side of the bridge and a spare for breakdowns.  They plan to run every twenty minutes, one from the city centre to the bridge and one from the bridge to Sainsbury's.

The day with the skips and the rubbish collecting – plus things to do in St Thomas’s Hall
 
Skips will be in Ancaster Way all morning. Please take your items there on foot or by car.  
 
Need large or heavy items removed from your home?
Make a booking. This is vital! Last date for booking is 10th June.
We will need: your name and address, what the item is and where it is.
Either email birdwoodara@gmail.com or leave a note at 52 Birdwood Rd. 
 
If the item is inside your house you will need to be home as we cannot guarantee timings of collections.  Please bag any dirty items.
 
No Fly Tipping!  If your item is not collected (ie you haven’t made a booking) and it is outside your home after the clear-up has finished, the City Council may see this as fly-tipping! So please do ensure that all your items on the pavement have gone by 1pm.

Volunteers needed!
Can you make a cake or serve teas?  Or are you strong – even just a bit? 
If you can help please email  birdwoodara@gmail.com or leave a note at 52 Birdwood Rd.

We couldn’t do this without Cambridge City Council and volunteers from the Cambridge Community Church who we will be working with throughout the morning. There is always room for more help though.

In St Thomas’s Hall – BARA AGM – please come and support us

12.00  BARA AGM

• Chair’s and Treasurer’s reports
• Adoption of committee – new members welcome!
  
• Amendment of constitution
• General update on progress
• Your views on what we could / should / might do next year.

 
We need to amend our Constitution to include what will happen to any money if we cease activity. We’re not expecting to! The committee thinks any remaining money should be shared equally between the charities we have supported in the past. More details at the AGM.

The newsletter for May 2019 is now available to download. 

In it you will find information on the Community Action Day on 15th June (see the next post for more information).

Also, the coach trip now has a date and destination.  We're going back to Norwich again - it proved a good option.  Save the date: 21st September 2019.

Other items included in the newsletter:

• What we have on the Mill Road Bridge closures (we've posted about this already)
  
• Table Top Sales continue (weather permitting, we were rained off in May)
• The Wine Tasting evening
• Friends of Cherry HInton Brook and
• We welcome a new City Councillor to Coleridge Ward.

We would like to draw your attention to the ongoing consultation on the future shape of Cherry Hinton Road.

Cherry Hinton Road is a key local commuter route, which sees on average 2000 cyclists and 1500 pedestrians travelling to Cambridge Train Station, city centre and locations along Hills Road each day.

The walking and cycling improvements, which also include options for parking and bus stop layouts, have been designed to help reduce congestion in the area.

The consultation will run from Tuesday 8th May to Tuesday 18th June, with two drop-in events at Rock Road Library on 21st May and 5th June.

Hard copies of the consultation document will be available at Rock Road Library and Cambridge Central Library or for more information and to fill out a survey online, visit:
https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/cherryhintonroad.

The Cambridge Area Bus Users have posted a round up of a report by Over Mill Road Bridge of a public meeting held on 29th April.  There is a slide you can download to look at what is intended, which seems to be removing a section of the bridge entirely and rebuilding it.

At the moment, the gist of it seems to be that it's all a bit of a shambles for bus users.  The good news that there is an intended shuttle bus both sides of the bridge, one into town and one (unfortunately) to Sainsbury's.  For BARA residents this would mean you could take a bus to Sainsbury's (assuming the diverted number 2 will stop there) and connect to the shuttle bus.

However, the shuttle bus route when it reaches the bridge is causing concern as the people in charge of the route obviously have never been to Mill Road and have scheduled the bus to turn by going down narrow one way streets the wrong way.  In fact, the map shows the shuttle on our side of the bridge turning via Stockwell Street and Cockburn Street, which are both one way in the same direction and have a barrier between them on Argyle Street.  Easily amended by going down Argyle Street and up Stockwell Street but it shows a lack of attention to detail that is worrying.

Also of note is that they will be closing the replacement foot/cycle bridge for one week.

To summarise:
Good  news: you will be able to get to Sainsbury's on the bus. 
Bad news: the Coldhams Lane diversion is going to drive everyone mad and it will be hard to get to Mill Road.

Image taken from page 11 of the powerpoint presentation on overmillroadbridge.org.uk.