PEMBROKE Street is closed while new surfaces are laid. Using setts – expensive, quarried stone blocks, similar to New Inn Hall Street – seems slightly odd on such a minor road but at least it won’t get mashed up by bus wheels.

There’s even a Cyclists Dismount sign at the St Aldate’s end which is amusing given that the road is already one way in the other direction.

Proposed changes to the street include adding a two-car loading bay, a ban on loading in the rest of the street, and bicycles being exempt from the no-entry from St Aldate’s and the one-way restriction.

The Pembroke Street changes are exciting when you consider: a) how the county council’s road schemes seem to ignore the needs of people on bikes and: b) the council’s record of introducing measures that make things even worse than they were.

Allowing two-way cycling in Pembroke Street is a welcome step in the right direction. Currently it’s a real nuisance to get from east to west Oxford. In a cycling city like Oxford it shouldn’t be, but it is – because Queen Street is closed to ridden bicycles and alternative routes are circuitous and confusing. It is high time Oxford’s cross-town routes were opened up properly to people on bikes. Cycling must be made as attractive as possible.

Pembroke Street really is great news, though arguably we should allow cycling along Queen Street too. Controversial for sure, but the Dutch have a measure that tells them what density of pedestrian footfall in streets means that cyclists should or should not be allowed.

Queen Street is wide and the pedestrian density low enough to permit cycling, the Dutch would say. The reason bikes were excluded no longer pertains, with fewer buses now. But if it’s properly signed, and if cyclists find it easy enough to turn across the buses on St Aldate’s, maybe Pembroke Street is all we need.

With a look and feel the same as New Inn Hall Street, Pembroke Street should work well. Pedestrian numbers are fairly low and once the new regulations take force, it will become a popular cycling route. Much easier than dodging the jaywalkers along Turl Street, Broad Street and George Street. This new cross-city route will also start/end in an easier location: New Road.

The biggest problem with the George Street cross-town route is the change at the crossing from Hythe Bridge Street into George Street. There’s a small area marked for bikes that are going straight on at the junction.

So either bikes are forced to wait in the path of cars whizzing round from Worcester Street into Hythe Bridge Street, or cyclists unwillingly block traffic trying to drive from Hythe Bridge Street into Worcester Street. Someone from the planning department should be placed in stocks at the junction and only allowed out once they have figured out how to make this junction work.