![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/New-station-bridge-300x169.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAfter months of anticipation, the first 6-month closure of the Botley Road<\/a> at Oxford railway station will begin on Tuesday 11 April. This is when work starts to divert 11 different utility services under the bridge. Replacement of the bridge will take place during a 6-month closure in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the works are complete, the station will have a new western entrance, an additional platform, and other infrastructure in place for the proposed Cowley branch line and new east\u2013west routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For cyclists the new road layout will offer a choice of raised cycle\/footways or cycle lanes on both sides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As someone who has cycled under the bridge almost daily for more than 30 years, I\u2019m hugely relieved that there will finally be a safer alternative.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The road will be closed to all motor traffic until end October, but pedestrians, and cyclists pushing their bikes, can use the existing pedestrian tunnel. This may become a bottleneck, because all the bus services along Botley Road will begin and end at Osney. Passengers will walk the 500 m between Osney and St Frideswide Square to connect with buses on that side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cargo bikes and delivery bikes will also divert from the road to the narrow tunnel. Cargo-bike firm Pedal & Post<\/a> has helpfully agreed to avoid peak times. Royal Mail is switching to using an e-bike to maintain deliveries in the area, as are other businesses based in Osney Mead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Network Rail is providing 11 marshalls to help keep everyone safe and on the move. However, there will inevitably be delays, especially in the first few weeks, while we get used to the temporary arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Congestion at the tunnel may mean you prefer to avoid the station area completely and there are many alternative routes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re headed south:<\/p>\n\n\n If you\u2019re headed north, it\u2019s a little easier, as Roger Dudman Way will remain open throughout the works. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The road closures will cause an enormous amount of disruption and create difficulties for many of us. Two issues of particular concern which are still not fully resolved are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there is also an opportunity for a change in habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Less traffic on the Botley Road, combined with warmer weather and lighter evenings might tempt more people to give cycling a go. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Broken Spoke is hoping to run some \u201cGet Back on your Bike\u201d courses in April and May for people to brush up their skills. Or if you\u2019re looking for a new bike, Warlands, Halfords and Decathlon in the Botley Road offer a great range of e-bikes<\/a> and bikes. These include folding bikes, which you could combine with a \u00a3300 annual parking permit<\/a> for any of Oxford\u2019s Park and Rides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, to ensure that cyclists feel safe when the road re-opens, we need further improvements to the cycling infrastructure for all of Botley Road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Lois Muddiman<\/p>\n After months of anticipation, the first 6-month closure of the Botley Road at Oxford railway station will begin on Tuesday 11 April. This is when work starts to divert 11 different utility services under the bridge. Replacement of the bridge will take place during a 6-month closure in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[26,5,117,7],"class_list":["post-10558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-on-yer-bike","tag-active-travel","tag-blog","tag-botley-road-closure","tag-on-yer-bike"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
The pedestrian tunnel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Alternative routes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Willow-Walk--300x284.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Concerns\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u2026and opportunities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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