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Cyclists fear 'ban' in city plans

8:57pm Sunday 15th February 2009 in


Dozens of cyclists met Oxfordshire County Council’s transport chief to have their say over plans to transform Oxford city centre.

The meeting was part of a consultation process over plans to pedestrianise much of central Oxford.

About 35 riders, including a large contingent from campaign group Cyclox, turned up at the Town Hall to get their view across.

Cyclox spokesman James Styring said: “There was nothing in the Transform Oxford proposals about cycling and we want to make sure that if they pedestrianise roads, they don’t end up banning bikes.”

He said Ian Hudspeth, cabinet member for transport, gave no assurances cyclists would not be banned under the planned changes.

But he added: “People had the opportunity to ask questions.

“The main talk was about shared space.

“One of the first things the county is going to do is make level the pavement and road surface in New Inn Hall Street.

“The idea is that cyclists would go more carefully and slowly, as they wouldn’t feel they owned the road, and pedestrians would be more able to use the main part of the street.

“It’s an experiment in having shared space.”

County Hall will also be consulting with a host of other groups, including pensioners and disabled people before any decision is made.

Comments(13)

markmac says...
9:36pm Sun 15 Feb 09

Hmm - no assurances = not going to do anything, if I know councillors. Typical of Oxford's government tho; We already have prize-winningly bad cycle lanes so why not make it even harder for our thousands of young cyclists to safely get around?

Why not go the whole hog and ban all wheeled transport from within the ringroad? With a concession of council-licensed ponytraps maybe? Hmm, a nice little earner...

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DanOxford says...
10:13pm Sun 15 Feb 09

The last thing we need is more confusion about where respective road users should be.

The blind have also been campaigning against these 'shared space' schemes as they end up 'sharing' their space with cars and cyclists.

I really can't see the problem with the tried and tested approach of having a pavement for pedestrians (NOT cyclists) then a cycle lane, then the road for cars.

This scheme is symptomatic of the current trend for inconveniencing and endangering everyone because the root cause can't or won't be tackled.

“The idea is that cyclists would go more carefully and slowly, as they wouldn’t feel they owned the road, and pedestrians would be more able to use the main part of the street."

How about fining cyclists for reckless and/or dangerous driving as car users would be?

Also- how are pedestrians suddenly going to 'benefit' from being able to use the whole road space? Surely the thing preventing them already doing so was the presence of cyles and cars rather than the lack of a level road/ pavement interface?

God knows how why we put up with Oxford County Council's endless meddling with our safety and at our expense.

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Rankin7 says...
1:24am Mon 16 Feb 09

If the Council are going to turn the city centre into a pedestrian zone, it should stay a pedestrian zone. Giving a concession to cyclists would be lethal for Oxfords shoppers.
Any Oxford resident will confirm the arrogance, utter stupidity and criminal behaviour of Oxfords cyclists.

Thank god cyclists are a tiny minority.

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brianbbleys says...
5:26am Mon 16 Feb 09

they maybe a small minority but in the past they have pulled the wool over the councillors eyes and they will get their concessions in the end, look at how councilors allow them to cycle the wrong way in one way streets for example. john tanner will give into them

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oxfordgirl1974 says...
8:41am Mon 16 Feb 09

The sooner cyclists are made to pay a small fee towards road tax, plus insurance the better. And, I speak as somebody whose son uses the road every day, and would likely pay it for him.
I am fed up of going into the centre of Oxford and being nearly run over by cyclists, who think that they own the roads, and have a right to ride as fast as they like. Also, I have lost count of the amount of times a cyclist has jumped the red light.....

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Sophia says...
9:22am Mon 16 Feb 09

One might think form these posts that humans come in 3 separate species, car users, cyclists and pedestrians. Actually all cyslist are also pedestrians!

As a recent convert to cycling for health reasons, I am appalled by the poor design - or rather, total lack of thought - for cycling in the City, which mixes cyclist, cars and pedestrians without any attention to separating them.

In my view its this poor design that is creating problems. Fro example in the Broad, there is no indication to pedestrains that they should look out for cyclist and no attempt to keep cyclist in a particular lane. The result is a threat to both - a cyclist hitting a pedestrian does not necessarily come off best from the encounter!

Yes, there are aggressive cyclists (aggressive against other cyclists, too!) as well as careless jay walkers, but in other cities eg Amsterdam, careful design minimises such conflicts.

Te porblme is not the people, cyclists or pedestrians, its a failure of thought by the Council.

The lack of any mention of cycling in the Transform Oxford proposals is therefore worrying, indeed in a Uni town with thousands of bikes, utterly bizarre

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situpandbeg says...
9:45am Mon 16 Feb 09

Encouraging more cycling could help to ease Oxford's traffic jams, but now it seems no one wants us to cycle.
I've started leaving my bike at home and using my car more and more. Is that what the county council (and some of your correspondents) want?

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CK1 says...
11:33am Mon 16 Feb 09

Shared surfaces have been proven to work. Just to scare you: they don't only work for pedestrians and cyclists, even cars have proven to slow down on these new shared spaces, just because they have to SHARE the space! Every new thing is scary, but this one is backed up by evidence. No-brainer really: we will all have to share spaces in our crowded city centre, so why keep up appearances on New Inn Hall st with a 1m wide sidewalk and a 6m wide road. Pedestrians already ignore walking on the pavement, simply because it is ridiculous.

Sophia, I completely agree with you. Cycling shouldn't be dead scary (as it currently is!) due to a lack of route provision and the abundance of aggressive fellow cyclists (and cars and pedestrians).
I fully agree with commenters: the city and county council have heard some vague rumours about promoting cycling. Something with traffic jams and health and stuff. They lost a fortune in national grants because they don't look beyond radio ads, and actually promote cycling on the ground.

What would really make a difference here is to promote cycling for ALL. Not a group of enthusiasts (Cyclox?) but the the father, the kid, the grandparent, the student alike. Cyclists come in tiers: enthusiasts will always cycle, even if a city has no facilities (Oxford). Routes, parking and promotion will have to step up significantly to reach non-enthusiasts. They will have to realise that cycling is safe, fast and convenient. How do we do that?

Hey, instead of responding to plans, why not come up with an alternative?

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Rankin7 says...
11:42am Mon 16 Feb 09

situpandbeg wrote:
Encouraging more cycling could help to ease Oxford's traffic jams, but now it seems no one wants us to cycle.
I've started leaving my bike at home and using my car more and more. Is that what the county council (and some of your correspondents) want?
yes situpandbeg and I would like to congratulate you on your moral courage and community spirit.
The more cyclists that leave their bicycles at home, the safer the streets will be for all.

Well done.

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Sophia says...
12:32pm Mon 16 Feb 09

CK!, yes take the initiative and comer up with ready made solutions eg from coutnries where they know how to do this, Cyclox please note!

Rankin7 hope you get over it soon.

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Lovebike says...
12:53pm Mon 16 Feb 09

Most cyclist–pedestrian conflict (in fact most highway “conflict”) stems from the territorialism that drivers, cyclists and walkers feel when they are given “their” piece of road/footway. When others stray into “their” territory they get annoyed and problems can arise. But if you create a “shared space” environment in which no one mode has absolute right of way, then the territorialism is dissolved and all road users tend to proceed with due care for those around them. In Oxford itself the Transport and Road Research Laboratory carried out extensive real-time studies looking for conflict between cyclist and pedestrian and found none (TAL 09/93: Cycling in Pedestrian Areas). Transform Oxford offers the perfect opportunity for a bus-free city centre to become attractive spaces in which pedestrians and cyclists share a motor-free thoroughfare. Intelligent designs can eliminate pedestrian–cyclist conflict, leaving the city’s cheapest and greenest modes of transport to co-exist in peace.

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CK1 says...
2:47pm Mon 16 Feb 09

Thanks Lovebike for your article. It does still leave me wondering if cycling in streets like Queen Street / Cornmarket Street would be appropriate. Not so much an issue of conflict but rather one of capacity. But nothing in the way of an overlaid network of side streets like George Street / New Inn Hall Street etc. In Dutch cities the central pedestrian zone is out of bounds for cyclists, but they can always take side streets. Large cities such as Amsterdam and the Hague also offer a network of (secured) parking. Get your bicycle close to the shop you want, and then walk further into the city centre.

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BigAlan says...
1:33pm Tue 17 Feb 09

With the recent weather and the pot holes in the side of the roads perhaps some of the cyclists who break the law might fall down them. Then perhaps the good cyclists would be better appreciated, and the car drivers might be a little bit more pleasant towards them.

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