LONG-AWAITED improvement work on a cycle lane linking Marston with the city centre will begin early next month.

Oxfordshire County Council is to spend £157,000 on widening and resurfacing the cycle lane as well as building two replacement bridges.

It is estimated the cycle track is used by more than 1,500 people every weekday.

The county council says that at the moment the surface is “poor, uneven and muddy puddles form on it in winter, making it difficult and uninviting to use, even for able-bodied pedestrians”.

Marston city councillor Mary Clarkson has been campaigning for the work to take place for seven years.

She said: “This has been in the pipeline since 2006 but there has been one delay after another with complications about land ownership.

“Technically it is a path and you shouldn’t cycle on it but it is a really handy cut through and there is nothing to say you cannot cycle there.

“People have been asking for ages whether it can be widened and improved.”

Resurfacing work will be carried out between Fairfax Avenue south to Edgeway Road through Croft Road recreation ground, with two replacement bridges over Peasmoor Brook. As well as improving the cycle track, the county council will be making a legal change to its status which will permit cycling on it.

The scheme will also involve installing lights in the recreation ground following a long-running campaign by Marston resident and councillor Mick Haines.

Lighting columns were originally proposed but there were concerns about the impact on the houses around the recreation ground.

The county council has looked into the possibility of solar powered lighting studs.

Richard Mann, of cycling campaign group Cyclox, said: “It will connect the route into town through New Marston and on to Cherwell School. It will be very well used and I am pleased it is going ahead.

“At the moment the path is narrow and has a broken bridge along it.”

County council spokesman Martin Crabtree confirmed work would start at the beginning of August.

He said: “Since the scheme was approved last year, we have had to make arrangement for the purchase of the bridges and other associated works.

“We also needed to schedule works to take into account the weather and wildlife such as trimming the vegetation at the end of winter to avoid bird nesting.

“While it may seem like it has taken a long time to it to be implemented, it was important to get the details right.

“We are sure when work is complete people will agree it has been worth the wait.”