ABINGDONIANS have had their first look at a £300,000 scheme designed to make Wotton Road safer for children cycling to school.

The local and national government funding with pay for a 200-ft cycleway alongside the footpath between Trendell Place and Dunmore Road, and for a pedestrian crossing at the entrance to Dunmore Road to be moved several metres up the road and made a Toucan crossing with a cycle lane.

The Wootton Road/Dunmore Road roundabout will also be given a studded “rumble strip” surface to produce a loud noise encouraging drivers to slow down.

The stretch of Wootton Road goes past Abingdon and Witney College and is used by children cycling to John Mason and Larkmead schools.

Town councillor Mike Badcock called for a cycle safety scheme for children cycling to school in 2007 and is now chairman of the highways committee that has welcomed the designs.

He said: “I think basically it is safer and I welcome anything that makes it safer for children.

“There is one slight concern about creating a cycle path in front of the old people’s home because there already is one there.

“Apart from that, the whole committee approved it.

“This actually follows the route that kids go to school, some are going to Larkmead, some to John Mason and some to Fitzharry’s.”

The designs have been drawn up by Oxfordshire County Council, and the work is due to start before next April and take less than three months.

It has been made possible by a £207,000 grant from the Department for Transport as part of a national funding scheme for cyclists plus £95,000 from Oxfordshire County Council.

Mr Badcock’s original impetus in calling for the scheme was when parents said they felt it was dangerous for their children to cycle down Wootton Road on their way to Larkmead School.

Larkmead head Chris Harris said that about 300 of his students cycle to school each day, with as many as 100 of those coming along Wootton Road.

Two Larkmead pupils, Ty-Ree Partridge and Sarah Waterhouse, have lost their lives while cycling.

Mr Harris said: “We get a lot of cyclists coming from that direction and crossing that roundabout. The crossing there is currently a drop down but it is certainly not a proper crossing.

“Making the cycleways on the pavement is definitely preferable to make a cycle path on the road, which is inherently dangerous.”

The county council has been running a month-long public consultation on the designs, which closed yesterday.