Oxfordshire County Council has told housing developers to accommodate cyclists on-street on the main streets in a major new housing development, rather than building parallel shared use cycle/pedestrian paths.
Commenting on the outline planning application for the 4,550-dwelling Valley Park development near Didcot, Oxfordshire says: “The main streets should have space for cycling on the carriageway. Shared-use paths running alongside main/spine roads should not be provided.”
It adds: “Provision of shared-use paths in such circumstances is out of date, not in compliance with the priorities of Oxfordshire’s Residential Road Design Guide, and not convenient for cyclists.”
Problems with shared paths include: “Loss of priority over side road traffic; difficulty with integration with the road network (re-joining the carriageway creating further delay, or requiring road crossings where paths are on one side of the road only); and conflict between pedestrians and cyclists”. In addition, such paths can create conflict between motorists and cyclists who remain on the carriageway.
Oxfordshire says shared use paths should only be provided alongside roads “in limited circumstances, such as to connect together two off-road paths”. It adds: “Off-road shared-use paths built to a high standard can be beneficial to cyclists, by providing quicker alternative routes away from traffic. Negative aspects for cyclists of shared-use alongside roads apply less in an off-road setting, for example loss of priority at side roads is rarely a problem.”
Discuss this at LTT's Cycle City Event this June
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