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And, finally, leaving the underpass to get onto Botley Rd, there is actually some support for transiting from the cycle path / shared path onto the carriageway.

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And then cross Cripley Rd at one of those crossings where it's not clear who has priority. (Someone has suggested closing Cripley Rd to motor traffic, which might free up eough room for a zebra crossing, with a proper cycle bypass, to replace the signal crossing.)

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Then you have to dodge around some poles and utility cabinets, and signal poles, and people waiting to cross the road.

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Cycling from the west and trying to get onto the underpass, you have to exit (without any signs or support) at the Abbey Rd junction, in dogleg movement that no one is going to expect, bumping up a kerb on the way.

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Another oddity: a fake speed hump - white triangles but no actual elevation change - presumably put in to try to get drivers to slow down a little bit.

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I don't know why one side of this has tactiles and a 20mm lip, while the other side has no tactiles but is flush. Are people supposed to transmute between pedestrians and cyclists half-way across?

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And if I'm not confident enough to cycle with 18,000 mv/day on the carriageway, or I'm trying to get to the station, I have to go around this corner on shared space and then cross the station entry with no support.

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Going the other way, if I want to get from the underpass onto the carriageway, do I use the dropped kerb and tactiles provided for pedestrians? This is what most people seemed to do, but this seems likely to create conflict with pedestrians, who will also be looking out for cars and buses.

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Or do I keep going on the carriageway and then do a sideways skip and use this dropped kerb which looks like it has been provided for this?

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But if I'm on the carriageway, on the junction, which side of the 4.4m height sign do I come off the carriageway on - do I use the dropped kerb and tactiles for the pedestrian crossing (green route) or bump up the 20mm kerb to the left of that sign (blue route)?

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I'm on the shared space outside the Frideswide Square shops. Which way do I cycle around this tree?

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The sections with fence rather than wall have some extra effective with, with a bit of space for handlebars, and the fence on the southern side has been offset 0.09m towards the carriageway, which is even better.

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The actual routes under the bridge seemed to work pretty well. There were people walking everywhere, and sometimes cycling on the footpath to get around people on the cycle path, and I heard a few bells being sounded, but there didn't seem like much conflict between people walking and cycling.

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Danny Yee @dannyyee.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The route under the Botley railway bridge has fully opened, so I went down to see how the walking and cycling provision works. Summary: the route under the railway bridge is pretty good, the transitions on either side are terrible for cycling (and not that good for walking).

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In general, getting onto or off the main cycle tracks is not really provided for. This is "addressed" in some places by simply banning cycle left or right turns from the tracks -- or by providing options that involve cycles turning on a dime.

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The Kent St signals are clearly optimised for cars moving at 40km/hr. After turning east, the Oxford St cycle track is much better - a bit wider and the surrounds are more welcoming. Really needs to be extended along Oxford St.

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The bridge ramp is great, but one design feature seems really poor. The sides of the ramp are flared out, which increases the effective cycling width - handlebars stick out further than wheels. But a handrail has been put in that not only undoes that but goes the other way, sloping inwards!

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The new ones Iffley Rd and Banbury Rd have the entrance kerbs right on the main road too, and the crossings directly on the pedestrian desire line. They really are _much_ steeper than the old treatments and they rise to the level of the footway (I think 850mm, just shy of the 1000mm allowable).

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One of the less convincing pieces of cycling "infrastructure" in Sydney. @bicyclensw.bsky.social

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Danny Yee @dannyyee.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Extensive Hostile Vehicle Mitigation just to protect the cycle parking (but no dropped kerb to provide inclusive accessibility). Victoria Cross metro station, Sydney. @sydneystations.bsky.social

Footway sloping down away from viewer. Glass doors on left are entry to cycle parking. Complete rows of bollards across the footway and along its edge to the road.

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In many ways Groningen is a better model for Oxford than any of the better known Randstad cities in the west of the Netherlands. It is quite some way from any other significant city and is the main centre not just for Groningen province but for parts of Drenthe and Friesland.

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Danny Yee @dannyyee.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

It has spectacularly good cycling infrastructure, but also a large central pedestrianised area. And these are still being steadily improved on.

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Danny Yee @dannyyee.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I visited Groningen in May, and was shown around by people from the municipality. The 1977 changes were just the beginning of fifty years of progressively restricting motor traffic to enable walking and cycling.

A newly constructed cycle street - red asphalt, only access motor traffic, very smooth and comfortable to cycle on.

A woman presenting to a screen showing "1977 Traffic Circulation Plan".

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Danny Yee @dannyyee.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

This is a bit technical, but the designs we commissioned are here wanderingdanny.com/oxford/consu...

Highway design with protected cycle tracks and movements

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There were 10km/hr speed limits and vehicles mostly not going much faster than that, with the layout -- the street furniture and the people wandering everywhere -- helping to keep speeds down.

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These are laid out as single surfaces with no kerbs and a lot of street furniture scattered around, a bit like a giant woonerf.

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But what about the superblocks? My second thread on walking in Barcelona's Eixample, looking at recent pedestrianisation schemes.

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(The extra space at the corners is mostly used for car parking, though in a few places it has been reallocated for cafe seating, cycle parking, or other uses.)

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Barcelona footways are also flat and don't suffer from "street scars" or other damage that creates trip hazards. (One exception to this are tree beds, which often have a considerable drop from the footway level, perhaps to assist with catching rainwater.)

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