Work on temporary cycle lanes and other related activities has begun in Oxfordshire, after the authority was awarded £2.9 million in total from the Government’s Emergency Active Travel Fun.
The first tranche of this money-£597,000 is being spent on more cycle parking and better bike route markings as well as £130,000 on 130 bike racks across the county which will be placed in park and rides around Oxford as well as in the city centre and other towns around the county. All of this work will be completed in eight weeks, says the council. The sites of each new parking rack is being worked out with help from all 61 of the county’s councillors, who took part in a survey about new changes. Re-surfacing and painting cycle paths will also take place as part of the project.
The council also says that traffic light timings in some places will also be changed to prioritise cyclists and in the longer term, the council will spend £2.388 million on more permanent changes, including new bus gates in Oxford.
Other work on creating local cycling networks for each of Oxfordshire’s towns had already begun before the pandemic, to give more space on certain roads for bikes, and the firs, for Oxford.
Yvonne Constance, County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “Our focus on supporting active transport options through a major upgrade in our cycling infrastructure will improve people’s health and wellbeing whilst helping us as a county attain our goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. It is part of our commitment to creating a sustainable and resilient future for Oxfordshire as we emerge from the coronavirus crisis. We will build Oxfordshire back better.”
