Oxford campaigners say cycling 'improvements' at key junction aren't working

There are 5 roads that go into Oxford city centre - 2 from the north, 1 from the west, 1 from the south, and 1 from the east ( Marston Ferry Road hooks into one of the "north" roads as far as I'm concerned!).  The southern and eastern roads get diverted around the edge of the city centre if you're in a private car (bikes, buses and taxis can go straight on).

If you close Longwall street to traffic, you might as well close magdalen bridge too. You would stop all private cars from going into Oxford from the east. I suspect the majority of journeys along Longwall St are travelling into the city centre - I can't imagine very many people travel through the city centre from one edge to the other either North to South or East to West - the traffic is just too bad.  So the quesiton that would have to be answered is - would those people go via bus or bike or foot, would they go via a different route (Marston Ferry Road?) or would they not go in? I'm curious about the focus on the east of the city too - I don't think that the Plain is more difficult to cycle over than the new layout at the train station, or the mess of roadworks to the north. Maybe it's just that there are more people?

No-one who knows the city would choose to go via the plain if wanting to go from Iffley Rd, Cowley Rd or St Clements to one of the others - there are lots of side streets that take you from one to the other. If you removed the traffic going into town from the Plain, you might actually change this equation as it would then be faster to go that way! One-waying Cowley and Iffley roads is not likely to happen - there was a massive consultation a few years ago and Cowley road was deliberately made slower for traffic to try to make it more cycle friendly. I suspect the same thought process in in place around Divinity Road and Southfield Road - jams and parking as traffic calming. If you made these roads one way, you would enable significantly higher speeds as the traffic has fewer restrictions caused by oncoming traffic (maybe that's the goal - I only see that as a good thing if it would also involve massive segregated cycle lanes along these roads).

The other key thing you need to remember about traffic planning in Oxford is that the City Council and the County Council are diametrically opposed on pretty much everything. The City is controlled by Labour (with a significant Green presence), and the County is run (and has been forever) by the Conservatives. Anything that requires co-operation between the 2 is destined to be held up forever or implemented in a contradictary manner.

Oxford centre is largely choked by slow moving motor traffic. The most usual approach from the station for the thousands of commuters is along a narrow worn out pavement next to a road full of stationary cars stuck in a jam.

We know when OCC cabinet member for transport, David Nimmo Smith says  "people travelling east or west through the city" he means "cars travelling east of west through the city". By far the vast majority travelling through Oxford do so on foot, or on a bike. Those travelling by bus go "to the city" not through it.

It's utterly absurd that cars can still drive through the centre of Oxford. The OCC is stuck in the 20th century. There's a perfectly good bypass all around Oxford, cars should use that, leaving the centre open to pedestrians, people on bikes, and deliveries. Don't hold your breath.

When I moved from London to Oxford four years ago I was very surprised that public traffic was able to cross the bridge at The Plane.  Over the last four years I've seen very little improvement to the cycling infrastructure to the level I wonder how the council can be so in effective?

The roundabout at The Plane could have been cycle centric statement of intent instead they put some lines down and took away a raised section separating cars from bikes...

I always struggle to understand why or who needs to cross the plane by car at peak or any time during the day.  I've always found it quicker to use the ring road or us Holloway.  I live half way down Cowley road and never make this journey by car even to go to Headington or Marston (rather than cross the river).

I have always thought making Cowley Road one way (heading out of town) would promote cycling into the city, enhance the community feeling on Cowley Road.  Also do good things for the retailers and the café culture?

It sounds as though the council are being timid, and just tinkering around the edges of the problem.

Many people can see that private cars in busy town and city centres aren't working well as a transport solution. I'm sure there would be howls of protest from some people if the local authority made a bold move to close streets to traffic. After a few months, most would probably then see it was better, and accept it.

'It also proposed putting a bus gate on Longwall Street by 2025, which would restrict other traffic'

Of course NO buses use Longwall!

'Mr Hunt said the city needed a “step change” similar to the one that happened in the 1990s when two of the main streets in the city centre – Cornmarket and Queen Street – were blocked off to most traffic, although buses are allowed on the latter.'

But cyclists aren't allowed 10am to 6pm even on Sunday!!