This year looks like it’s going to be a year when we finally see some of the cycling projects we have been campaigning for finally get going. This may be a tricky year for cyclists as some of the upgrades and repairs will result in track closures. This combined with the road upgrades, that are going on at the same time (Milton Interchange and Hagbourne Hill), may result in us having to cycle on roads that will be lot busier than normal, or roads filled with grumpy drivers who have been stuck in traffic jams. There is a lot going on the moment, please see more details below:
Route 544 Repairs
Last Thursday HarBUG cycled the length of route 544 from Didcot to Wantage with traffic planners from the County Council and the Sustrans area manager. The reason for the ride was to identify areas of the route that need upgrading or repairing. The county has £200,000, from the Government Local Sustainable Transport Fund, to spend on Sustrans routes in the Science Vale, this includes route 5 from Abingdon to Didcot. This money has to be spent in the financial year from April 15 to March 16. £100,000 has been allocated to upgrading / re-building the badly rutted track immediately west of the Campus towards Wantage.
We identified a few other larger problem areas; Chapel Furlong in Upton, Hagbourne Hill track, East Ginge farm track and other sections between the Campus and Newbury Road (no surprises there). There are also lots of smaller repairs from widening the track where the verge has encroached onto the original surface and repairs where the Tarmac surface has sunk (mainly in Didcot).
We also had some disappointing news, it looks like the Chilton Road from Upton to Hagbourne Hill will not now be closed to motor traffic. This is because of objections by landowners and access to their fields. We will continue to work with the County Council to see if there are other ways around this.
Winnaway Upgrade
There has been more delays to the start of this project. The latest we have been told is that construction will start in the summer.
Local Transport Plan 4
The County Council will be publishing their latest Local Transport Plan (LTP4) and going out to public consultation in February. The documents for LTP4 are available ahead of this as part of an agenda item for the next County Council Cabinet meeting:
All documents are avalable here: http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ieIssueDetails.aspx?IId=14923&Opt=3
The cycling strategy and Science Vale Cycle Strategy (Page 15) can be found in volume 4: http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/documents/s28412/Connecting Oxfordshire vol4 LTP4.pdf
Please have a look at the documents and if you have any comments / feedback please let us know as we will be putting a comprehensive response chairman@harbug.org.uk.
Positive Signs
This sign at the new Didcot Parkway Station Forecourt is a step forward. Normally we would see ‘Cyclists Dismount’ or ‘No Cycling’ signs so this is a welcome change (even though the red bordered sign means no cycles or pedestrians).