Room for manoeuvre

The county have clearly done a lot of work on traffic modelling, but unfortunately the models don’t (can’t) include cyclists. In capacity terms that’s probably correct, because cyclists cause little delay to other traffic. But it does mean the models can only give a very rough guide to how to provide for cyclists.

As ever, the aim should be to make the junction tolerable to an increasing number of cyclists.

Ultimately, the only way to fundamentally reduce congestion is to persuade some people out of their cars.

Over the next few weeks, the county will be looking at creating a bit more space around the two main roundabouts.

The aim is to provide explicit crossings outside Cafe Coco, and to provide a clear lozenge-shaped route for cyclists on the pavement around the two main roundabouts. The challenge is to make this acceptable to pedestrians.

We hope that some cyclists will feel comfortable enough using the road, but there needs to be a clear route on the pavement that can cope with a fair volume of cyclists, if the junction is to be properly cycle-friendly. We think the pavements can be widened at the critical points so that cyclists and pedestrians can share the pavement comfortably.

There are tight spots at the mouth of Botley Road, and outside Cafe Coco’s, but there’s quite a bit of room for manoeuvre in the design. We look forward to seeing what the county come up with.

Richard Mann, Cyclox, Oxford