ON October 5 you criticised the Oxford railway station expansion plan for not including improvements to Botley Road railway bridge.

On October 18 you appeared to have done a U-turn, and called for the station to expand without improving the bridge, and criticised protesters who agreed with your previous comments.

The bridge has two problems: motor traffic gets congested and pedestrians and cyclists are unsafe.

The county council conflates the two, claiming road safety cannot be achieved without a new bridge costing tens of millions of pounds.

Department for Transport Inclusive Mobility guidelines say footpaths should be at least two metres wide.

The pavement under the bridge narrows to 1.05 metres. Disabled people with assistance dogs or walking aids cannot use it, and wheelchair-users risk rolling off the kerb into the busy carriageway.

DfT Cycle Infrastructure Design notes say a cycle lane on a busy road should be two metres wide. The westbound cycle lane under the bridge narrows to 1.45 metres, and there is no eastbound cycle lane.

In January, I proposed to the county council a new pedestrian and cycle subway through the railway embankment just north of the bridge.

There is room for its western entrance beside Oxford Youth Hostel. Part of the station’s cycle park would have to be moved to accommodate its eastern entrance.

It would cost about £1m. The county already has half that in Section 106 money from the development of student accommodation in Roger Dudman Way. It is worth finding the other half to achieve pedestrian and cycle safety at last.

HUGH JAEGER, Park Close, Oxford