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Plain Roundabout works courtesy Oxford County CouncilWith joined-up thinking Oxford could be transformed, like Copenhagen
Oxford could be transformed "in a generation or two", like Copenhagen, if cycle infrastructure were introduced each time road works were carried out, say campaigners.
The comments came after Oxford City Council announced a £110,000 vision for 40 cycling improvement schemes over the next two years, with suggestions they work with the local roads authority, Oxford County Council, to spend £10 per person per year on cycling by 2020.
Oxford County Council received Cycle City Ambition Fund money from central government in 2013 and then again in 2015, but campaigners have questioned its project choices, to improve one Oxford roundabout at a cost of £1.3m and build a cycling and walking bridge in the city. They say these will make little difference to everyday journeys and a different, more integrated, and cost-effective approach to cycling is needed.
- A bridge too far? Oxford campaigners say Cycle City Ambition cash being "misspent"
Graham Smith, CTC Councillor for the South East of England, said: "In a thirty or forty year span [give or take], every main route in Oxford is likely to be rebuilt, going on the evidence of the last thirty odd years.
"Were there a real political pressure to find a way, each piece of road renewal and of course road construction, could provide for cycling for all."
"Instead of useless dotted lines for cycling, we could have segregated continuous provision...the city could be transformed in a generation of two, just like Copenhagen."
Smith claims, instead, most recent road works have "made cycling conditions worse", and believes it would be much more cost-effective to combine cycling improvements with ongoing road maintenance.
Among Oxford City Council's wish list of cycling improvements, with a budget of £110,000, are improved signage from the Plain roundabout to the Kassam Stadium, and spending £5,000 to remove one-way restrictions for cyclists on two roads. A new crossing and new cycle route between Marston Road and Headington Road are also proposed.
Ian Leggett, of the Oxfordshire Cycling Network, has been critical of the council's past cycling schemes, and says too often cycling is not seen as a viable means of mass transit, and so joined up thinking is lacking.
He calls the new Oxford Parkway station, part of a new £130m London-Oxford rail link, a missed opportunity for cycling by the county council and despite 100 bike parking spaces he claims access to the station by bike is poor.
He says: "Everyone knows that the existing station is hugely popular with cyclists so you would think they would have integrated improved infrastructure to make the new station really easily available to cyclists from North Oxford and Kidlington. But no, nothing has been done and a huge opportunity has been missed."
He added the £1.3m changes to the Plain roundabout aren't going to help most people feel safe cycling in Oxford.
"We worked really hard to persuade the council not to waste money on a scheme that is so insignificant and piecemeal - but they would not listen. And just recently, out of the blue, they won more central govt funding for a second cycling city ambition grant - but for a scheme that not a single group in the county has heard of or wants."
Leggett wanted to end on a positive note, however.
He said: "Over the last couple of years we, as cycling organisations, are getting better at working together and coming up with truly integrated, ambitious and transformative schemes. If anything is to get the council to be more responsive it will be because of pressure from below."
Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.
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16 comments
Such a traffic-choked horror, Oxford historic centre. The approach to the city from the station is like Eastern Europe, choked with cars and trucks, broken failing pavements, shitty buildings etc.
There is no reason on earth anyone should be able to drive across Oxford in any direction in the 21st century. There's a perfectly good ring road. All the roads should terminate on the edge of the centre. A few bollards and job done.
At least you're allowed to turn left on a bike in Oxford, unlike Copenhagen
Grew up there. There is 0 chance of Oxford ever being like Copenhagen. The roads are managed by the County Council and all rhe councillors care about is how quickly they can drive to and from the County hall drinks cabinet
Don't hold your breath for any meaningful change.
Grew up there. There is 0 chance of Oxford ever being like Copenhagen. The roads are managed by the County Council and all rhe councillors care about is how quickly they can drive to and from the County hall drinks cabinet
Don't hold your breath for any meaningful change.
I've lived in Oxford for 13 years now, I'm not holding my breath. There are plenty of cyclists but primarily because congestion is so bad and parking is so limited, rather than being encouraged by nice cycling options. Part of the problem is that there are very few routes across the city so all traffic tends to get squeezed together, fighting for very limited space.
There are continued missed opportunities, for example the new Barton Park 1000 home development was originally to have a cycle/pedestrian bridge over the A40, this looks to have been scrapped now.
It is a sad fact that the best cycle infrastructure remains the wide, segregated path with underpasses around the ring road that was built in 1970.
I grew up in the area, 30 years ago Oxford and the surrounding towns were teaming with cyclists...it seems a lot has been undone since then
People have become a lot richer. Even students commonly have cars now. Generally, worldwide, this is the trend.
Well I guess it's good that they're starting to look at it like this, but as has already been said, it's a shame they didn't start this 30 years ago
This is a mixed-up article, but what's needed is to develop a list schemes in consultation with local cyclists, then a knowledgeable person or people at the council to coordinate work and make sure it's done to the right standard.
The headline figure of £110,000 is nothing - building infrastructure, even re-tarmacking something, is surprisingly expensive.
30 years is how long it took Copenhagen to get as good as it is today, in terms of cycling provision. It happened as a consequence of sustained campaigning in tandem (pun intended) with the impact of the energy crisis. Before they had a joined up plan, Copenhagen was, as far as I can understand from reading up on the subject, very similar to many of our cities in the UK.
30 years...
£110,000? That'll get a good 75 yards of mandatory cycle lane with some money left over for an ASL.
I seem to have confused people re: the significance of the £110k, so just to clarify it's not that the £110,000 would achieve this sea change, or much more than the projects listed, rather suggestions were made that a more integrated approach is taken to make the necessary changes over a longer time scale.
I think that is their point. If you put the cycle bits in when you rip the road up anyway then they come (nearly) for free.
I think what they are really asking for is a long term plan and goals from the council that produces a real cycling infrastructure. e.g. we are going "aim towards pedestrianising this bit", "we will aim to make this the main commute corridor into town from this area", "we want people to come to the station by bike because its cheaper, better for health and more space efficient". Then they would like the council to make every piece of road improvement work towards that goal.
With a plan like that that is well publicised people understand the point of what happens and when.
At the moment we get a few pounds of splurge here and there but there is no plan and its at the mercy of short term politics and a council transport department with no will or vision. When they rip the roads up to re-surface they get the same road layout not improvements.
Having ridden in Copenhagen at the weekend, Oxford has an awfully long way to go. I imagine there is more funding than the £110,000 reported but at least 2 and maybe 3 zeros on the end of that will be needed to achieve the level of infrastructure provision I saw.
Continuous, segregated cycleways do not come cheaply and the streets of Oxford are much narrower than the roads in Copenhagen. Political will to take roadspace away from motorised traffic and to some extent pedestrians, backed by significant amounts of cash is what is required.
It's a shame we didn't start 30 years ago...