Corridor 6 of 12
Linton Greenway
The most delivered of the rural greenways — and the one where both major structures were quietly replaced or shelved.
Under construction
What became of the 10 proposals for this corridor
Built and open · 3
In design or planning · 1
Scaled back · 5
Paused on cost · 1
What the 2016 review asked for
- New 1.5 km link from Dame Mary Archer Way to Babraham Road Park & Ride
- Babraham village link through the Institute grounds, 1.2 km
- 2.4 km of new paths around the A11, and a new crossing under the A11 beside the Granta
- A new bridge over the A1307 near Hildersham
- New Greenway between Hildersham and Linton along existing rights of way, 2.5 km
- Improved path beside the A1307 between Linton and the Hildersham junction
- New path Great Abington to A1307, 750 m
What happened
- 2016Initial consultation — the only greenway consulted before the review was published.
- March 2017Executive Board approves construction.
- July 2021Section 1 work commences.
- March 2023Section 1 opens: the A1307 path between Addenbrooke's and Babraham Research Campus.
- 2024The Hildersham signalised crossing is built — an at-grade solution in place of the recommended bridge.
- December 2024Section 2 completes on Newmarket Road, Little Abington, serving around 1,500 residents.
- Early 2025A 16-week scheme builds the active travel path east of the Hildersham crossing to Dale Head Foods.
- 2025Section 4 is refused planning permission: no workable way to reconcile the proposed lighting with legal protections for the local bat population.
- 2026Section 4 redesign under way; Linton Village College and Icknield Way links programmed for summer 2027; construction on section 4 possible from 2027.
Where it stands, November 2026
Partly open, partly building, partly stalled. Sections 1 and 2 and the Babraham link are in use, and the path beside the A1307 has been widened from Hildersham to Linton Village College. But it stops there, on the western edge of the village: to reach the High Street you still ride 350m on the A1307 or illegally on a narrow footway. GCP says the Village College and Pampisford Road links are due in 2026. The A11 crossing has been folded into Cambridge South East Transport phase 2 — a £162m busway with no confirmed funding, whose Transport and Works Act Order inquiry was confirmed in June 2026 and expected before year end. CSET proposes improving the existing A11 footbridge rather than the Granta underpass route the review preferred. The Hildersham bridge is gone.
2026/27 budget £2,147kOpen Sections 1, 2, BabrahamBlocked on CSET funding; bats
Audit
Every proposal on this route
| Proposed intervention (2016) | Type | Scale | Status 2026 | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New link from Dame Mary Archer Way, Biomedical Campus, to Babraham Road Park & Ride | New route | 1.5 km | Built and open | Built as Linton Greenway section 1; opened March 2023. |
| Improve access crossings on the A1307 at the Gog Magog farm shop and Wandlebury | Upgrade | — | Scaled back | Partly done. Crossings around Wandlebury were upgraded in the A1307 works. Local cyclists report the Gog Magog farm shop entrance is still a blind crossing with no cycle priority, and there is still no safe way across the A1307 (Babraham Road) from Haverhill Road, the direct route to and from Stapleford. |
| New refuge crossing of the A1307 at Copley Hill and new path south-west of the A1307 | New route | 1.2 km | Scaled back | Partly done, in the review's fallback form: GCP widened the existing path at Copley Business Park rather than building a new path south-west of the A1307 (programme update, February 2025). No refuge crossing of the A1307 at Copley Hill has been recorded. |
| Complete the Babraham village link through the Institute grounds | New route | 1.2 km | Built and open | Built. |
| New paths linking Babraham High Street, Granta Park and the A505 path around the A11 | New route | 2.4 km | Paused on cost | The A11 crossing and the Babraham links are folded into Cambridge South East Transport phase 2, which has no confirmed funding. Some work near Granta Park has been delivered: a new path to Granta Park and widened shared space on Newmarket Road, Little Abington, completed in autumn 2024. |
| New route crossing under the A11 beside the River Granta | New structure | underpass | Scaled back | Not built. The preferred 2016 route under the A11 beside the Granta was dropped; Cambridge South East Transport phase 2, which has no confirmed funding, instead proposes new ramps to the existing A11 footbridge. |
| New bridge over the A1307 near Hildersham | New structure | new bridge | Scaled back | Replaced by an at-grade signalised crossing, which has been built. The bridge is not in the programme. |
| New path between Great Abington and the A1307 | New route | 750 m | In design or planning | Section 4 is being redesigned after a planning refusal over lighting and protected bat populations; construction could start 2027. |
| New Greenway between Hildersham and Linton along existing rights of way, linking both village centres | New route | 2.5 km | Scaled back | Not progressed as a separate route. GCP has instead widened the existing path beside the A1307 (next item). A consultation on the remaining sections east of Linton Village College was planned for 2026. |
| Improved path beside the A1307 between Linton and the Hildersham junction | Upgrade | — | Built and open | Built: the path beside the A1307 has been widened from Hildersham past Dale Head Foods and The Meadows, with a new signalised junction at Linton Village College (GCP programme update, February 2025). It stops at the Village College on the western edge of Linton. Reaching the High Street still means 350m on the A1307 or riding illegally on a narrow footway, a break in the continuity ('Coherent') that LTN 1/20 asks of a route. GCP says the Village College and Pampisford Road links are due to be built in 2026. |