A survey carried out during December 2016 on behalf of the Hills Road Area Residents Association James Berry, 29th December 2016

1. Hills Road cycle lanes – revisited
A survey carried out during December 2016 on behalf of
the Hills Road Area Residents Association
James Berry
29th December 2016

2. On 21st August 2016, immediately after the cycle lanes were completed on the section of Hills
Road from Long Road to Cherry Hinton Road, my wife and I carried out a detailed survey. This
identified a number of issues, including:
 Obsolete dual-use signage on the western side of Hills Road
 Unidentified bus stops on the eastern side of Hills Road
 Extended verges on the western side of Hills Road
 Unfinished pavements
 Confusing signs
 Abandoned equipment
I updated our survey in December, and was pleased that considerable progress had been made.
However, there is still work to do, which is outlined in this report.
This survey incorporates observations by members of the Hills Road Area Residents Association.
Photographs overleaf: Abandoned equipment illustrated in the survey on 21st August 2016

4. Action taken since survey on 21st August 2016
 The pavement on the western side of Hills Road has been resurfaced.
 On the western side of Hills Road, from Luard Road to Long Road, the dual-use signposts
and the white line, separating pedestrians and cyclists, have been removed.
 Almost all of the abandoned equipment and confusing signs have been removed.
 Planting has taken place along most of the Homerton College frontage and on the two bus
stops on the eastern side of Hills Road.
 The bus stops outside 267 Hills Road and the EF Language School now display illuminated
online signs with bus times, and the EF Language School has a bus stop sign.
 The troughs on the eastern side of Hills Road have been filled with gravel, ready for planting.
 Plastic white posts have been installed in the troughs on the western side of Hills Road, from
numbers 256 to 282, to help the sedum grow and discourage vehicles from mounting the
pavement.
Photographs overleaf: top left – resurfaced pavement; top right – plastic white posts;
bottom left – Homerton College planting; bottom right – troughs ready for planting.

6. Summary of action remaining
Cycle signage on western side of Hills Road
Install a sign at the junction of Luard Road and Hills Road to make it clear that the pavement from
Luard Road to Long Road is for pedestrian use only.
Bus stops on eastern side of Hills Road
Install a bus stop sign outside 269 Hills Road.
Extended verges on western side of Hills Road
Landscape the verges.
Abandoned equipment and signs
Remove the two concrete sections near the junction of Hills Road and Cavendish Avenue.
Incomplete sedum planting
(1) Plant sedum on the eastern side. (2) Dig out the troughs on the western side, and prepare with
soil and gravel, before relaying the sedum strips.
Incomplete pavements
Resurface the pavements outside 256, 258, 260 and 285 Hills Road.

7. Cycle signage on western side of Hills Road
Before the construction of the cycle lanes, the pavement on the western side of Hills Road was
dual-use, shared by cyclists and pedestrians.
Since our last report, the pavement has been resurfaced and the dual-use white line, separating
pedestrians and cyclists, has been removed from Long Road to Luard Road. The blue dual-use
signposts near the entrance to The Perse School and outside 288 Hills Road have also been taken
away. However, the white line remains from Luard Road to Homerton College, and there is
nothing to indicate to cyclists travelling south from Luard Road that the pavement is for
pedestrians only. As a result, many cyclists continue to cycle on the pavement.
Action: Install a sign at the junction of Luard Road and Hills Road to make it clear that the
pavement is for pedestrian use only.
Photographs overleaf: left - sign required at Luard Road junction to signify end of dual-use; right– dual-use white line from
Luard Road to Homerton College.

9. Bus stops on eastern side of Hills Road
There are two bus stops on the eastern side of Hills Road – one next to the EF Language School
and one outside 269 Hills Road. When we carried out our survey in August, there was nothing to
identify these as bus stops, which must have been confusing for both passengers and bus drivers.
Now both bus stops have been planted and have Real Time Passenger Information displays.
However, while the stop next to the EF Language School has a bus stop sign, the one outside 269
Hills Road doesn’t.
Action: Install a bus stop sign outside 269 Hills Road.
Photographs overleaf: top left – Real Time Passenger Information display; top right – bus stop sign next to
EF Language School; bottom left – planting; bottom right- missing bus stop sign outside 269 Hills Road

11. Extended verges on western side of Hills Road
The extended verges on the western side of Hills Road were not laid properly. Concrete, rubble
and stones were left from the installation of new street lights. The soil was simply tipped in and
wasn’t pressed down. Seeds were scattered without watering. Then the contractors dumped
equipment on the verges and in some cases ploughed them up with their vehicles. Generally, the
verges are below pavement level, which will make mowing difficult. It is not surprising that the
verges are generally a mixture of bare earth and weeds.
Grant Weller (Project Manager – Cycling Infrastructure Team) confirmed on 6 September that:
“With regards the extended verges, they are due to be landscaped at the start of the planting
season which will be towards the end of September/early October. They will be planted with a
variety of low maintenance, drought resistance scrubs and plants. Not wishing to leave these
excavations open for any period of time they were immediately filled with the topsoil
originally specified, a British Standard grade topsoil. Inevitably, areas like this will attract
weeds if left unattended but prior to planting they will be removed and a layer of bark
nuggets placed amongst the new plants to act as a future weed suppressant.”
Action: Landscape the extended verges.
Photographs overleaf: examples of poor quality verges

13. Abandoned equipment
Barriers, traffic cones, road signs, sandbags and planks have now been taken away from both
sides of Hills Road. The large pile of soil at the Hills Avenue junction has gone and the compound
for cabins and equipment at the entrance to Luard Road has been removed.
However, there are still two concrete sections near the junction of Hills Road and Cavendish
Avenue.
Action: Remove the two concrete sections
Photograph overleaf: Concrete sections near Cavendish Avenue junction.

15. Incomplete sedum planting
The sedum troughs on the eastern side of Hills Road were properly prepared by professional
landscape gardeners, with layers of soil and gravel. The sedum has yet to be planted.
On the western side of Hills Road, soil was tipped into the troughs and the sedum strips were
simply thrown down. In many places, the sedum has failed to grow.
Action: (1) Plant sedum on the eastern side. (2) Dig out the troughs on the western side, and
prepare properly, with soil and gravel, before relaying the sedum strips.
Photographs overleaf: top left – sedum has taken root in places; top right – poorly laid sedum;
bottom left – gravel laid on top of sedum; gravel laid properly on eastern side

17. Incomplete pavements
The pavements on both sides of Hills Rod have been resurfaced (in technical terms “overlaid with
slurry seal”). However, the section outside 285 Hills Road was missed. And the section outside
256, 258 and 260 Hills Road was not completed satisfactorily, leaving a number of depressions
which fill with water and soggy leaves. We observed that the puddles remained for 6 days in
December, and froze over on cold nights, presenting a safety hazard.
Action: Resurface the pavement outside 256, 258, 260 and 285 Hills Road.
Photographs overleaf: top left – two puddles outside 258 Hills Road; top right – pavement not resurfaced outside 285
Hills Road; bottom left – puddle outside 256 Hills Road; bottom right - puddle outside 260 Hills Road