AN EXTENDED pavement featuring a bus stop in Oxford High Street that caused a bottleneck cost about £40,000, it has been revealed.

Earlier this month city councillor Colin Cook, a keen cyclist, said the new stretch of pavement close to the Turl Street junction, was too wide and causing a problem for cyclists.

The county council has admitted the extension, part of changes linked with the opening of the Westgate Centre, had resulted in 'some safety concerns' and bus stop L2, and bus services using it have now been relocated further west towards Carfax.

Gordon Woods, 43, a civil servant from East Oxford, submitted the Freedom of Information request because he was unhappy about extra congestion in the High Street.

He said: "I don't think the county council bothered to look at impacts on traffic and cyclist safety before wasting £40k on this mess.

"This should not have been done in the first place and now more money might have to be spent to reverse it.

"Engineers could have prototyped the change by putting down a wooden pavement extension to see what the effect would be before committing the money."

The FOI response to Dr Woods confirmed the extension cost about £40,000.

It added: "The footway widening was undertaken as part of a series of transport improvement measures in relation to the proposed prohibition of vehicles using Queen Street and the knock-on effect that would have on the surrounding city road network, including bus routeing.

"This widening was also implemented with pedestrians in mind to improve their and bus passenger experience in an area where the narrow footway was a source of complaints.

"This widening enables the provision of bus shelters to further improve infrastructure for bus passengers.

"Due to the small size and nature of the works it is not necessary to undertake an informed assessment of the impact on traffic flows, beyond the acknowledgement that there is likely to be a small detrimental impact which is considered acceptable in the context of the wider benefits to other user groups.

The response added that the situation was now being 'closely monitored' and that the safety of cyclists and other road users was a priority for the council.

The council insists the design 'was informed using national standards and guidance'.

County council spokesman Martin Crabtree said pavement widening was part of a wider package of work including signs and lines in the adjacent area of High Street, costing in the region of £40,000.

He added: "There have been issues reported of congestion when two buses are waiting at the stops on the opposite sides of the road.

"Because of this we have moved the bus stop opposite slightly and will continue to monitor the situation closely.

"There are no plans for further work at this time. However, as with all schemes, monitoring will show whether any further work is needed."