THE county’s cycling champion has called for improvements to a bike path on a major West Oxfordshire road.

Suzanne Bartington wants ‘long term’ upgrades to cycling facilities on the A4095 between Witney and Woodstock, after flagging up a poorly maintained stretch near Bladon.

The Witney North and East councillor reported a hedge overhanging the pavement on FixMyStreet last Monday, which she said forced cyclists onto the busy road.

Oxfordshire County Council initially said the issue ‘did not meet the criteria’ for repairs, but fixed the issue on Friday after Dr Bartington complained on Twitter that day.

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The councillor thanked maintenance teams for carrying out the work, but wants more to be done to make cycling on the route safer.

She said: “It’s a problem all the time, because the surface is so poor and the vegetation has been a problem every year.

“I’d never seen it as busy as it was at the weekend for Countryfile Live. It’s a key route for people travelling by sustainable means.”

She added: “As a cycling champion, I want our cycleways to be of the highest possible quality.”

Oxford Mail:

Dr Bartington took to Twitter to share her concerns about the state of the path after the council replied to her FixMyStreet report on Friday morning.

The reply said: “We have assessed it and found that it does not currently meet the criteria for intervention, so will not be fixing at this time.

“At the place this has been located, the full footway width is clear.”

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The councillor posted the reply on Twitter alongside a selection of photos showing the overhanging hedge, gravel scattered across the ground and even a part where the path seems to disappear.

Oxford Mail:

She tweeted: “No, sorry Oxfordshire County Council, the width of this footway is NOT clear.

“This is a KEY LINK from Hanborough to Blenheim Palace, where we have BBC Countryfile Live involving a lot of cars. Please can we really start prioritising active travel.”

The councillor now wants cyclists on the A4095 to be more ‘protected’, with potential measures including widening and improving the path, and has urged riders to complete the county council’s cycling survey online.

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County council spokesperson, Martin Crabtree, revealed the authority was looking into improving the route.

He said: “There is currently nothing specific planned for the A4095, however we are exploring options along the route where it may be possible to widen or improve the path.

“Currently there is no budget identified for this work so this will also need to be taken into consideration.”

He said it was ‘not unusual’ for issues to be fixed on the day they were reported, adding: “It would very much depend on the nature of the report and the likely hazard associated with the report, however if reports are considered hazardous we can react quickly where necessary.”