Pleasae find below the HarBUG response to the County Council’s proposals for a new roundabout junction at the Campus Thomson Avenue entrance.
The plans for the junction can be found at: OCC – Harwell Campus Entrance Improvements
Harwell Campus Bicycle Users Group would like to make the following comments about the proposed Thomson Avenue Entrance improvements.
Observations on the proposed plans:
• There is no existing shared use footpath/cycleway along Thomson Avenue.
• There is no existing shared use footpath/cycleway along the A4185 from the junction in the Harwell direction. There is a shared use path within the campus boundary, not a public right of way but well used and a much better solution. Could you get a permissive agreement with the Campus to formalise the use of the shared use path?
Comments on the plans:
• We do not see any benefit in having the segregated cycle bypass. We anticipate that with the new Winnaway link and the new Campus internal link road most cyclists will get off the A4185 at the earliest opportunity. Those who remain on the road are unlikely to use the bypass.
• We are concerned with crossing provision at Thomson Avenue, it is too close to the roundabout. Cars queuing to get onto the roundabout will block the crossing making it un-useable at peak hours. On the other side, it will not be easy to cross with motorists turning left or right into the Campus.
• Before 2007, the cycle crossing of Thomson Avenue was level with the campus path behind the pavilion, this was a reasonably safe and an easy crossing for cyclists. This was also the main entrance into the nuclear secure site, so traffic was slow. After 2007, security was heightened and concrete blast blocks were installed on either side of the road up to the very end of the junction. The route across the junction became very awkward requiring cyclists to make sharp turns and crossing at a busy point where motorists were more concerned about turning than looking out for cyclists. When the main entrance was moved, the concrete blocks were removed but the awkward cycle crossing remained. Your current design shows a crossing at existing position but there should be no reason why the crossing cannot be moved back from the junction to its pre-2007 position.
• HarBUG believes there is space and opportunity to build a crossing where the cyclists travelling north to south have priority over traffic turning into or pulling out of Thomson Avenue at the junction. This is common / the norm in Europe and junctions of this type have been built in the UK e.g. Swaledale junction in Bracknell, also in Oxfordshire; The Cherwell School entrance in Oxford. This type of junction would show that the infrastructure investment in the Science Vale is being used for modern, innovative transport solutions and is in line with the principles of the County Council’s LTP4.
• No ‘cyclists dismount’ signs.
