What Cyclox said to the newly elected County Council

Cyclox has written to all recently elected County Councillors congratulating them and asking for their help to make Oxford streets safer for all. 

Oxford has better cycling provision than most UK cities but it remains a city where lots of people cycle, rather than a ‘cycling city’, despite what the welcome signs say on the ring road.

We have offered to work with councillors to tackle the challenges of meeting the ambitions set out in the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan delivering the County’s Vision Zero targets to make our roads safer.   

But it’s not all about congratulations. The letter includes a comprehensive and far-reaching wish list of 25 measures that would turn Oxford into the cycling city it claims to be. 

Key demands include:

• Spelling out funding for active travel funding in the budget, and agreeing to spend the county’s discretionary transport funding on active travel. 
• 20 mph speed limits on all Oxford’s roads.
• Prioritising major cycle routes in the road maintenance/resurfacing programme 
• A programme, with funding and targets, to provide bicycle parking in residential areas that have no or poor off-street cycle parking
• Creating safe, accessible and direct north-south and east-west cycling routes across the city centre.
• Finishing the rollout of School Streets schemes inside Oxford.

Cyclox wants Oxford to be safe for all road users, including cyclists of all abilities, from commuters to children to older people. For this we need an infrastructure that makes cycle routes obvious, continuous and safe. Junctions must provide a clear way through for cyclists, rather than expecting them to compete for space with either pedestrians or cars. We want cyclists given as much priority as motor vehicles at roadworks – signs saying ‘No overtaking cycles’ rather than ‘Cyclists dismount’. We want clear consistent policy on how much road width to give to bike lanes, whether to allow cycling in the city centre, and 20 mph speed limits on our arterial routes.

If the County has the will, it can work with us to get serious road injuries and fatalities down to zero.