Agenda item

The Cabinet Member considered (CMDE5) a report seeking approval to progress to detailed design and construction of a cycling improvement scheme at the Plain roundabout and proposed modification to the nearby A420 High street junction with Longwall Street as a complementary improvement.

Simon Hurst  (Cyclox) thanked officers for the discussions undertaken on the scheme and whilst in principle he supported its aims he felt that without additional measures it would not work such as reducing speeds on the roundabout to say10/15 mph . As the scheme would require alteration of the geometry of the roundabout an opportunity to increase segregation had also been missed. His organisation were happy to discuss further proposals for lane marking eastbound of the roundabout but the scheme had not been audited for all aspects of cycle traffic.

Graham Smith (CTC) considered the scheme in its present terms unacceptable. The aim should be to introduce the presence of cyclists and make them visible to motorists. Tabling a handout which highlighted lane line marking off Magdalen Bridge and right off St Clements he felt give way at right angles would have been a better option. In his view this scheme lent itself to a similar type scheme as the Copenhagen hybrid scheme which would not result in a reduction of space for pedestrians and other vehicles. He felt there was a design attitude problem with regard to this scheme.

Noam Bleicher (Bus users UK) opposed the scheme as it would result in additional delays to bus users of almost a minute when travelling from Cowley Road in the morning peak where journeys through the roundabout already took four and a half minutes. Bus journeys in the city were already slow and nothing should be introduced to make that any worse.  There were proposals for future retail development in the city and any reduction in road network capacity could be disastrous.  He felt the money could be better spent elsewhere and urged rejection.

Mr Rossington confirmed a great deal of work had been undertaken with stakeholders and contrary to some views felt the scheme was ambitious and represented a great improvement in promoting cycle use and increased safety bearing in mind the constraints that existed at the roundabout such as the need to retain traffic flow, limited space and the tight timescale for delivery.  The need to find a balance had been met with considerable gains for pedestrians and cyclists.  He accepted some delay for buses would be inevitable but felt that would be offset by some gains as a result of the changes proposed at the Longwall Street lights.  Stage 2 would follow when funding was available.  On-carriageway facilities had been carefully considered and clearly set out with approach work now fixed but he was happy to consider minor changes to signing and lining.  He confirmed that officers had reached agreement with Sainsburys to resolve concerns that they had had regarding loading bay arrangements.

Councillor Sanders supported the modifications to Longwall street and suggested signing asking cyclists to dismount rather than sharing the pavement. He was unhappy with the central cycle lane off the bridge which he felt could make cyclists vulnerable and wondered whether that could be considered under phase 2.  He was also concerned at the financial constraints placed on major alteration schemes and suggested permanent lane colouring and supported more segregated space.

The Cabinet Member recognised this was an evolving process with other cycling representatives involved and having regard to that, the arguments and options set out in the documentation before him, the representations made to him and the further considerations set out above he confirmed his decision as follows:

a)                 approve the latest scheme design set out in Annex 3 to the report CMDE5 for detailed design and construction;

b)                 approve the TROs as advertised for (i) changes to loading bays at The Plain and (ii) removing the exemption to the left turn ban for cyclists at the Longwall Street/High Street junction;

c)                  approve the conversion of a new section of footway at the Longwall Street/High Street junction into shared use footway/cycle way as described in paragraph 17 of the report CMDE5;

d)                 authorise officers to apply to the Department for Transport for special authorisation to make the necessary amendments to the traffic signals at Longwall Street to allow a head start for cyclists.

………………………………………..

Cabinet Member for Environment

………………………………  2014