High time

The cycling group Cyclox believes so and anyone who has passed beneath the bridge on a bicycle may well be inclined to agree.

The narrowness and weight of traffic under the bridge continues to make the journey in and out of the city from the west an uncomfortable one at best for cyclists — and a truly frightening one for the less confident, inexperienced or anyone with children.

News that Network Rail is to finally address the issue of the bridge — and is now working on designs with Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council — will come as a huge relief.

It may well provide one of the biggest boosts to cycling in the city since the arrival of marked cycling lanes. Of course, work on the bridge has been necessitated by the need for additional tracks that Oxford Rail Station shall require to cope with the increases in freight and passenger trains and services in the coming years, with the arrival of the East-West link, the electrification of the line and all the rest. County Hall and the city council have been right to see this as a one-off opportunity: with the need to address the issue of rail capacity providing the chance to deal with so many other local transport problems, while making a more attractive entry point into the city, It is cheering that officers from both councils are to have a direct input into the provision of space for pavements and cycle lanes, hopefully to ensure that new train services, welcome though they will be, are not the only priority. The additional problem of increasing the bridge’s headroom, avoiding the main western route into the city being closed every time some distracted HGV driver misjudges the size of his vehicle, poses an additional challenge. Lowering the road under, and on either side of the road, will add to both the cost and disruption. But it should be a relief to everyone in the city that finally there is a firm commitment to get on with the job, probably towards the end of 2017, although as yet there is no fixed timetable. For it remains to be seen how it will all fit in with the work proposed to expand the station, with work expected to begin with an additional deck on the Becket Street car park. There will almost certainly be implications for the station’s neighbouring youth hostel building. What we do now know is that the bridge work will follow the revamp of Frideswide Square, leaving Oxford Civic Society to wonder whether a section of the new gateway into the city could have to be dug up almost before the Tarmac has dried. Details of funding have also to be revealed. But one thing is for sure — with the cost of bridge and roadwork put by consultants a decade ago at £74m — a sizeable contribution from the Department of Transport will be required.