A green bridge in Cambridge could see cyclists and walkers join frogs, toads, snakes, rabbits and other commuting creatures in part of a re-genesis like vision for the city.
A pioneering plan to transport the city into a future where human and wildlife mix together could be born after a consultation.
Green bridges were pioneered in the Netherlands, where at least 47 have been constructed since 1988. The Terlet overpass was planted with trees and within six years three species of deer were recorded using it, along with wild boar, red fox, badger, wood mice, common shrew and common vole.
Another Dutch ecoduct has a chain of small pools across an overpass and its access ramps for amphibians. Common toad, common frog, marsh frog, edible frog, smooth newt and great crested newt were all found on the ecoduct.
Cambridge's green bridge
Now Cambridge is looking to green bridges to solve congestion problems and freedom of movement for animanls.
The green bridge idea was included in a consultation for redeveloping the area around Cambridge Science Park and the new Cambridge North Station. The consultation closed in March this year.
Richard Taylor, of Milton Road, has taken an active role in engaging with both proposals to remodel Milton Road and the plans for area of new station, science and business parks.
He came to Cambridge as a scientist and has worked with a number of companies, including on the Science Park.
Mr Taylor said: "Cambridge Science Park was built in the era of the motorcar, vast swathes of the site are currently taken up by car parking. The new station, and recently committed central government investment to move the sewage works, provide an opportunity to significantly rejuvenate the area.
"New homes will give people the option of living closer to where they work and improved public transport and an expanded network of off-road cycling and walking routes will give a wide range of safe and attractive travel options for those who chose to commute in from further away.
"Land currently used for car parks will be put to more productive use and we will see more scientific and technical activities in the area. A denser environment, with more organisations, should lead to more opportunities for collaborations, producing outputs which are greater than the sum of their parts.
"A green bridge connecting Cambridge Science Park to Cambridge North Station and the new homes, hotels, businesses which we're expecting to be built around the station would a fantastic, iconic, element of the new quarter. The new bridge will let people walk and cycle across Milton Road without coming into conflict with motor traffic.
"With trees and other planting on the bridge those using it might never realise they're crossing one of the main roads into Cambridge. As well as the human travel benefits a green bridge would help wildlife cross the road too, making the area a more pleasant place to work.
"The proposed green bridge is just one part of a wider picture. The plans for the area also include new green space which would connect to Milton Country Park via an underpass under the A14, providing an off-road connection to the river and proposed "greenway" cycle and pedestrian path to Waterbeach.
"Together with the new bridge over the River Cam which should be built this year and the Chisholm Trail it's looking as if a significant network of off-road walking and cycling routes which people can practically use to commute to work and to travel within the science park area, and to other sites within Cambridge, for collaboration and leisure, could be in-place in the area in the next few years.
"I am disappointed that the Greater Cambridge Partnership remodelling of Milton Road which is due to start next year, is not currently planned to extend to the Science and Business Parks, despite there being sufficient budget available. I think that is a missed opportunity however hopefully we will see improvements connected with future development in the area.
"The Cambridge North Station is a twenty-five minute walk from the furthest reaches of the Science Park. The green bridge offers a route which might be used by a range of types of transport in the future for faster travel within the site. All sorts of options from automatous pods, hire bikes, and bike taxis to cable-cars and monorails have been suggested.
"The green bridge provides a basis on which others can build. Redevelopment of the Science Park has the potential to reassert Cambridge's position as one of the best places in the world to base knowledge based, science and technology focused organisations.
"By making the right strategic planning decisions here we have the chance to help tackle some of the key issues humanity is facing including disease, climate change, and food security, as well as to provide an environment in which the other technology based industries in software, gaming and finance, that have been attracted to the area to thrive.
"If these plans come to fruition people living and working in the area in the future will hopefully find themselves with impactful jobs, a pleasant environment, and congestion free trips to work.
"I'm hopeful that we'll see innovative housing schemes, for example perhaps college-like accommodation aimed at some of those working in the high-tech businesses in the area, and that the area might prove an attractive location for public research infrastructure and shared facilities from instrumentation to lecture rooms and conference space.
"I responded to the consultation supporting many elements of the proposals. I also addressed more prosaic matters such as the provision of public toilets, public access, across the site, crime prevention and ensuring any remnants of the sewage system don't pose a nuisance, or worse, to future residents."
Pioneering plan is off the drawing board
One part of the overall shift is the cycling and walking route through central Cambridge which has been called for since the 1990s.
It is set to be completed within two years.
The Chisholm Trail will follow a mostly off-road route between Cambridge North and Cambridge Station.
The route, which was first proposed by local transport campaigner Jim Chisholm and his colleagues in the 1990s, is being funded by the Greater Cambridge Partnership.
Together with the new Abbey Chesterton Bridge, which is funded by Cambridgeshire County Council, the trail will improve foot and cycle access to places such as the Cambridge Science Park and Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Construction on the Abbey-Chesterton Bridge is due to start first, and work will begin this month after contracts were awarded to Tarmac.
A pedestrian and cycle underpass at Newmarket Road is also planned as part of phase one, with work expected to begin in summer 2019.
The north-to-south trail, which closely follows the railway line, will be built in phases and is expected to be completed by 2020.
Phase one of the trail will focus on the north part of the route from Cambridge North to Coldhams Lane and will open up less used green spaces, including the privately owned Barnwell Lakes and Cambridge Past, Present and Future’s Leper Chapel, creating a green route between Stourbridge and Coldhams Commons.
It will also link up to the guided busway track providing an almost entirely off-road walking and cycling route between Trumpington and St Ives.
Phase two will see the trail follow the railway line linking Cambridge Station to Coldhams Lane.
And a new ‘cycle-themed’ cafe was given the go-ahead and will sit on green belt land off Newmarket Road near Barnwell lake.
It will be a “pit stop” on the new Chisholm Trail.