A417 Cycle Path Proposals – HarBUG – Harwell Campus Bicycle Users Group

Parish councils along the A417 from Wantage to Blewbury have had discussions with the County Council about traffic problems along the A417. A presentation of ideas were made to a meeting in August and one of the proposals was to build a 3m cycle/pedestrian path. No views of cyclists have been sought so HarBUG would like to know what members think about this proposal.

Please click on the link to have a look at the presentation: http://www.harbug.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-08-15-A417-Presentation.pdf

On the face of it, it sounds like a good idea but there are a few points to note:

If this path is built you, as a cyclists, would be expected to use it. If you continue to use the main carriageway you will probably get abuse from motorists. We have seen this happen on the Abingdon to Drayton road and at times on Fermi Avenue. If you currently cycle on the A417, would you use the path instead of the road to get to the Campus?
It looks like the motivation behind the path is to get cyclists off the road rather than to provide a real alternative to the road.
How are cyclists going to get from the A417 to the Campus? Will we be ‘dumped’ back onto the main road at Rowstock?
Would a path linking the Wantage to the Campus through the villages directly be a better option. HarBUG has been working with the County Council on this, so it was a surprise to learn about the A417 option.
A similar type of path from Didcot to the Milton Interchange works OK. However the road is very busy, straight and fast with lots of HGVs so pretty ususable for cycling on.

Please can you email your views to: chairman@harbug.org.uk

For Didcot riders, there is a proposal for a one way system in Upton which would directly affect the Sustrans 544 route. We will object to this unless there is contraflow for cyclists.

This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by Anonymous.

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- November 16, 2014 at 9:15 pm #2347
  
  admin
  Member
  
  A proposal for a cycle path along the A417 has been put forward by the parish councils.
  Members views are sought as to whether this path is a good idea.
  
  [See the full post at: A417 Cycle Path Proposals]
- November 17, 2014 at 9:53 am #2348
  
  Anonymous
  Inactive
  
  Were the cycle path to be built to the standard in one of the artist’s impressions, I don’t see how anyone could object to using it. The difficulty will arise in the difference between this proposal and the reality of what appears! It is a long road with not much overtaking at rush hour so one would be expected to use it with some justification. Blocking off the Sustrans route in Upton should not be what anyone intends so I can’t believe they won’t make provision for cyclists. Having said that I cannot believe making all east bound traffic from Wantage (and northbound from Hagbourne Hill) that wishes to enter Upton do so in the nasty dip by the George and Dragon can be justified on safety grounds at all.
- November 17, 2014 at 10:17 am #2349
  
  chrisrogers1234
  Member
  
  A fixed Route 544 would be better – no roundabouts or pedestrians to negotiate and direct access to campus. It would also be nicer for leisure cyclists – no big lorries coming past and better access to the Ridgeway and the downs. It may work out cheaper as well as most of the infrastructure is already in place (using existing C roads).
  
  So I think fixed Route 544 should receive higher priority.
  - November 17, 2014 at 7:03 pm #2350
    
    Anonymous
    Inactive
    
    “+1” to Chris’s post, with the addition that the resultant route should be able to allow “full duplex cycling” on small wheel folding bikes or road bikes on a reasonable surface, rather than a choice between “interacting” with traffic or repairs to hinges, spokes, etc.
    
    Cheers
    Kev
- November 19, 2014 at 7:08 pm #2351
  
  LS
  Member
  
  I’d like a cycle path along the A417. I no longer commute to the Harwell cite, but to Culham. Using the Wantage-Harwell back-route for the first part of the journey adds miles to my journey. It is a beautiful route, but impractical for daily commuting. If I were working at Milton or Didcot I’d have the same problem. I agree that cycle paths tend to be rubbish, so that cyclists get the choice of using a substandard route and trashing their bike/interrupting their journey for needless road crossings, or using the road and getting aggro from drivers. However, I suspect that the A417 is a no-go route for most cyclists anyway (esp. during rush hour); adding a cycle path adds options.
  
  And, of course, because of the ‘interesting’ way cycle provision is designed, I’d guess that the path will just dump cyclists at some random place (I quite like the superb Didcot-Milton interchange cycle route, for all those cyclists who want to go to the A34). But if the route is there, at least there is something to connect to when further road works are planned.
  
  I’m not too hopeful though. Earlier this year I went to a public meeting where the public were to make suggestions for the transport plan from 2020, or some such distant time. We were encouraged to think big – examples raised were a light railway alongside the main rail track, an overhead railway, tramways, driverless cars, but the idea of a cycleway alongside the A417 was dismissed as too expensive to even consider.
- November 20, 2014 at 9:12 am #2352
  
  Anonymous
  Inactive
  
  I thinl LS’s final paragraph is the telling one – the likelihood of getting what was pictured in the original proposal is, alas, vanishingly small and there is a very strong danger of a “line on the road, job done” scanario. After all we can’t even afford to surface the roads properly anymore. Even the new interchange at Chilton, which uses government money, has no provision for cyclists to get from one side to the other. My feelings are analgous to those I have for the canal system (of which I am fond). There is significant volunteer effort beong poured into the Wilts & Berks canal project (which will only ever exist in artists’ impresssions and little specimen lengths, a bit like new cycle routes) while existing canals deteriorate. In the current climate we should be upgrading existing routes to improve their surfaces and accessibility as, in reality, this is the best we can do. “Overhead railway” sums up the level of dissociation between “consultation” and reality, usually fulled by those who have “consultation exercise” on their checklist. Or maybe I am just getting old and grumpy 🙂
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