Local Transport Schemes – Important New Plans
Plans have been published for two transport schemes in the Science Vale. Both schemes will have a direct effect on nearly all cycle routes to the Campus.
The schemes are:
Harwell Link Road with improvements to Hagbourne Hill
If you cycle in from Didcot either via Harwell Village or via Upton this scheme will affect your route.
Proposals include:
• A new road running between the B4493 Didcot Road and the A417 Reading Road.
• A new roundabout at the A417/Hagbourne Hill junction
• Closure of Chilton Road, between Upton and Hagbourne Hill, to general traffic but retaining a public right of way and farm access.
Scheme details: https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/harwell_link/consultationHome
Improvements to Featherbed Lane and Steventon traffic lights
If you cycle in from Abingdon direction or Wantage on the A417 this scheme will affect your route.
Proposals include:
• Introduction of traffic lights at A4130/Featherbed Lane junction.
• Road widening between Steventon junction and Featherbed Lane junction on the A4130.
• A roundabout at A417/Featherbed Lane junction.
Scheme details: https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/featherbed/consultationHome
The County Council are holding exhibitions for the schemes at:
Upton Village Hall, Station Road, Upton, OX11 9HX. Monday 7th July 3pm to 7.30pm (TODAY!)
Steventon Village Hall, The Green, Steventon, OX13 6RR. Tuesday 8th July 3pm to 7.30pm (TOMORROW!)
Harwell Primary School, The Styles, Harwell, OX11 0HX. Saturday 12th July 10am to 3pm
Please make the effort to call in on one of the exhibitions on your commute home so that the council can see a lot of cyclists are taking an interest in the schemes. Please also let HarBUG know your views on the schemes, we will be putting a response. The consultation finishes on the 4th August so there is not much time. Email: Chairman@harbug.org.uk
Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4)
The County Council are also consulting on a new local transport plan. We put forward quite a detailed response for local transport plan 3 (LTP3). The plans we proposed, apart from the Winnaway upgrade, are no further forward. The County Council are working on a Science Vale Cycling Strategy which will be published soon and is partly based on our LTP3 submission. We should still make our own submission to LTP4 as things have changed since LTP3.
If you have any ideas for cycling projects within the Science Vale please let us know. Generally projects fall into three categories: Didcot town cycle network, Wantage/Grove cycle network and Science Vale network. The consultation finishes on the 1st August so again not much time. Email: Chairman@harbug.org.uk
Harwell Campus Cycling Festival
Thanks to everybody for supporting the Cycling Festival. We had a record number of people turning up for the Cycle to Work breakfast at the Harwell Pavilion, just over 100. Apologies to those who did not get a breakfast, although they should have been able to claim a breakfast at the RAL R22 restaurant. The signing in sheets have been put into pie charts and can be downloaded here: by where cyclists came from or by organisations.
The Dr Bike bicycle repair man had his work cut out and did not leave site until 6:00pm. The Electric Bike and Brompton Dock events also proved very popular during the lunchtime.
Chilton North Facing Slips
We are following up the plans for the Chilton North Facing Slips scheme. Despite our objections to the design of the roundabouts, nothing has been changed. Our concerns are that the approach angles to the roundabouts from feeder roads are so shallow that motorists will take them at speed and not see cyclists or motorcyclists. We have proposed to change the approach angles and fit screens to restrict motorists field of view forcing them to slow down.
Connecting Oxfordshire
The County Council is inviting everybody to have a say in the future of transport in the county. These are future ideas from 2020 onwards. You can see more at: Connecting Oxfordshire A public meeting to discuss ideas will be held at Cornerstone in Didcot on Tuesday 15th July from 7:00 to 8:30pm.
Hagbourne Hill Track
We are trying to find out who made the ‘repairs’ to the track making it pretty much uncyclable at the latest ‘stone dump’. The sub contractors for Thames Water, at the reservoir site, did not know who had made the repairs but would ask around. If they did make the repairs they have said they will ‘make good’ the surface. We need to keep an eye on this.
HGV’s on Campus Roads.
There has been concern about the increase of HGVs on the Campus Roads due to the amount of building work. HarBUG will approach the main contractors to remind them that cyclists are using Campus and surrounding roads.
Advice for cyclists dealing with HGVs can be found here: RoSPA Cyclists and Lorries also a useful film from the Met Police.
Home › Forums › HarBUG News July 14- Important Transport Scheme Proposals