AND so another year draws to a close. How was it for you? Better? Wetter? Further? Faster?

Out in Charlbury, I’m miles better off bike-wise than I was in East Oxford. With instant access to brilliant off-road routes as well as lovely quiet lanes for the road bike, the move to the country has suited my main leisure interest perfectly. The ride to work and with the kids is all very quiet and easy about town.

But I am ever mindful of cycling in Oxford, where I fell in love with two wheels. How has the year been for Oxford?

For the experienced rider, Oxford is fine. There is relative safety in numbers and the quiet back routes are there if you have time on your hands. But for those that have yet to try cycling, Oxford remains scary.

The recently completed megaschemes at either end of the city centre look pretty. But how much difference have the Plain and Frideswide Square projects really made?

The majority of trips to the city centre involve being funnelled via one of these two bottlenecks. Both schemes should have made those crucial corridors inviting and safe for novice riders. Not for me – I’ll cycle anywhere. But for people riding for the first time, for children and people riding with children.

The Plain and Frideswide were missed opportunities to transform the city’s cycling experience. Is a novice going to tackle the new Plain? No. Would you want to cycle round it with a child on a tagalong? No, thanks.

At Frideswide Square, are novice cyclists going to wobble along with cars hot on their tail and get in a muddle with buses that can’t fit into the laybys? Or will they want to ride over the safe-looking acres of York stone, intended for pedestrians.

Look at an aerial view of the new Frideswide and you can’t help wondering why there isn’t a segregated route across the square, linking the station with – oh, with Hythe Bridge Street. What exactly was the point of spending millions on Frideswide when it funnels half its car traffic and all of the bikes into horrible, heaving, Hythe Bridge Street. Surely the only way Frideswide would make any sense is if all car traffic is removed from Hythe Bridge Street, creating a pleasant and safe access to the city centre for those on foot and on bikes.

The Oxford alumni magazine Oxford Today made a rather brilliant assessment of the county council’s priorities in their piece on May 27: “Is this the vision we want for Oxford?”. In it, the council’s cabinet member for transport is quoted as saying: “Ideally we would prefer it if people didn’t bring their cars into the city centre but we have to be realistic and we know that lots of drivers use this junction every day.”

Oxford Today retorts: “So he knows that cars are not the solution, but he sponsors a project to ease traffic flows. The results are anaemic and confused. By appeasing everyone a bit, nothing much at all is achieved, and at great expense.” Well said . The onus on any forward-thinking transport authority in this day and age is surely to put the needs of the most vulnerable and the least congesting and polluting first.

Please, please, please can we see some ballsy vision in 2016 that puts the needs of people walking and on bicycles above the needs of drivers in the city?