You’ll remember we did a poll a while back asking the Cambridge Foodies what they thought of the Cambridge congestion charge. The results were pretty damning, with a majority of the Cambridgeshire based group being against it.

Luckily, the idea never came into fruition but I was keen to learn our community’s thoughts on the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s (GCP) latest idea, to block off Mill Road bridge to all traffic (other than public transport, taxis and cyclists).

You might be reading this and wondering why the Cambridge Foodies are worth asking. My opinion is that with any sort of consultation for a project like this, it is rare for people from outside Cambridge to be considered. This is particularly important because the people who live outside the area are affected by it too. Also, Mill Road is the beating heart of the Cambridgeshire food scene, which a lot of businesses rely on, so asking the consumers is obviously going to be important.

The question

We asked: Will the closure of Mill Road bridge change your behaviour with shopping/dining on Mill Road?

The results

We divided the results into people who live in the city and the people who live outside the city. This is to see whether the results were driven by proximity, as I expect this to be the crux of the issue.

783 people voted in the poll in total

1st – 30% of people voted for “I live in Cambridge: It won’t make any difference”

2nd – 20% of people voted for “I live in Cambridge: It will put me off visiting”.

3rd – 18% of people voted for “I do not live in Cambridge: It won’t make any difference”

4th – 13% of people voted for “I do not live in Cambridge: It will put me off visiting”.

5th – 11% of people voted for “I live in Cambridge: It will encourage me to visit more”.

6th – 5% of people voted for “I do not live in Cambridge: It will encourage me to visit more”.

7th –  3% of people voted for “I never visit Mill Road anyway”.

The direct results of the poll.

• 66% (or 2/3) of people who voted are from Cambridge and 33% (or 1/3) from outside Cambridge.

• Surprisingly, the distribution of whether people will be put off, encouraged, or indifferent to the bridge being closed, is roughly the same, whether they live within or not.

• 48% (or roughly half) of people said that closing the Mill Road bridge would not change their behaviour.

• 33% (or 1/3) said that it would put them off going to Mill Road.

• 16% said that closing the bridge would encourage them to visit more frequently.

Digging deeper

Businesses will be relieved to learn that half of people aren’t bothered by the change and will likely carry on as usual.

It is also encouraging to learn that 16% will now be encouraged to visit more often by the bridge closure. Unfortunately, this is dwarfed by the 33% who said they will now be put off visiting. This is a -17% deficit and suggests that the closing of the bridge is going to have more of a negative impact on people visiting than a positive one.

You may have noticed that I used the word “surprisingly” when I wrote that the distribution of results was exactly the same for people who live in or out of Cambridge. This is because I wrongly presumed that people from outside the city would be less happy with the change when compared to people who live within the city.

After speaking with several people who live in the city, I heard anecdotal evidence that some people who live in or around Mill Road are against it because they are the ones who drive down it the most to get to other parts of Cambridge.

For example, someone who lives on The Brook side of Mill Road will now have to drive down Cherry Hinton Road to get to Cambridge centre, adding a significant amount of time to their journey…especially in rush hour. This also results in cars being on the road in Cambridge more to make the same journey, therefore making the rest of the city more congested for the sake of Mill Road. 

Conclusion

The poll proved to be very interesting, with some unexpected results. My major concern is with businesses who are already struggling with other economic issues (staff shortages, high taxes, energy prices, etc) that a -17% impact on consumer traffic may push some over the edge.

With that said, what we say and what we do are two very different things but as long as Mill Road continues to be the most exciting place in Cambridgeshire for diverse and excellent cuisine, will their behaviour really change? Only time will tell.

One thing the poll suggests however, is it is another thing for businesses to worry about.

Thanks for reading