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Extra traffic will simply choke Oxford
Some may welcome the announcement that the £330m redevelopment of the Westgate Centre in Oxford is on the move again, but those that can see beyond the end of their shopping trolley have a lot to be worried about.
I've nothing against John Lewis in principle - on the contrary, their business practices and ethical policies make them one of the best of the UK's high street chains.
But the idea of building a John Lewis-based retail paradise in the centre of a city that is already impossibly congested is stark raving BONKERS.
Unless Capital Shopping Centres (CSC - the Westgate's owner) and their chums in planning and highways act now, On Yer Bike really will be reporting the view from the gutter.
The development is predicted to double the number of shoppers in central Oxford, and even if they do enlarge the park and rides so that shoppers can uses buses, everybody else in the centre will be overwhelmed by the volume of traffic.
A congestion charge funding a light-tram system would be perfect, but the capital would be hard to obtain even if the ruling county council cabinet would countenance such a Livingstone-style charge - which, of course, they won't.
The only other way to prevent Oxford's imminent paralysis is - you guessed it - the bicycle.
The new Westgate needs to be a monument to bicycling not to cars. The vast majority of shoppers are physically able to use bicycles and, for most, purchases will fit in panniers. Large TVs etc can be delivered or taken away by taxi.
Oxford's retailers insist on seeing us shoppers through 1950s-tinged spectacles.
Cars are killing the city centre, not breathing life into it. (And Internet shopping is killing traditional retail full stop.) Retailers should wake up and smell the bio-diesel before we all choke on traffic fumes.
Workers and shoppers should be encouraged to feel that cycling is the most obvious, easiest and cheapest way of accessing the new shopping centre.
To achieve this, the new Westgate Centre must have a "Cycle Park". The brand new John Lewis-anchored Grand Arcade in Cambridge has one. If it's good enough for Cambridge it sure as hell is good enough for us.
Cambridge's Grand Arcade Cycle Park is the UK's biggest free indoor city centre cycle park. It opened in March 2008 and provides space for around 300 cycles. It has easy-to-use cycle racks suitable for securing a wide range of cycle types, including trailers.
It will soon have a cycle shop, valet cycle parking for a further 200+ cycles, lockers, and showers for changing.
Currently, all that the Westgate has planned bike-wise are small clumps of cycle parking around the edges.
A cycle park in Oxford would be an important civic amenity and as such should be publicly funded. Let's cut back on the new bus journey-time display boards and start spending for Oxford's future: The bike.
I can't mention the Westgate without writhing with contempt for the visionary geniuses who okayed the development without getting the buses out of Queen Street. The opportunity of a lifetime has been missed.
4:33pm Thursday 8th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: PJ on 2:48pm Fri 16 May 08
For once, let's pre-empt something:
the "Grr, all cyclists break the law, all of the time" sentiment. It's usually the first or second response to any article mentioning cycling.
Let's get things straight.
Many cyclists do break the law. Often. When I cycle, I do too - though perhaps less than most. I also break the law when driving sometimes. When I judge it to be necessary. For example, I may reverse onto the road out of my drive (not really legal) if when I parked i was compelled to enter nose-first.
But roads are more often designed for the car, so I find that common-sense and the law contradict eachother less often. On a bike, one must take the law with a great pinch of common-sense if one is to be safe.
And about inconveniencing other road users to the benefit of cyclists - well, why not? I used to be apologetic. I tried, patiently, to explain how cyclists could co-exist on our roads. Now, of course, like many others i know that if we don't get people out of their cars and onto bikes, we can say goodbye to civilization. Both in Oxford and beyond. No joke.
For once, let's pre-empt something:
the "Grr, all cyclists break the law, all of the time" sentiment. It's usually the first or second response to any article mentioning cycling.
Let's get things straight.
Many cyclists do break the law. Often. When I cycle, I do too - though perhaps less than most. I also break the law when driving sometimes. When I judge it to be necessary. For example, I may reverse onto the road out of my drive (not really legal) if when I parked i was compelled to enter nose-first.
But roads are more often designed for the car, so I find that common-sense and the law contradict eachother less often. On a bike, one must take the law with a great pinch of common-sense if one is to be safe.
And about inconveniencing other road users to the benefit of cyclists - well, why not? I used to be apologetic. I tried, patiently, to explain how cyclists could co-exist on our roads. Now, of course, like many others i know that if we don't get people out of their cars and onto bikes, we can say goodbye to civilization. Both in Oxford and beyond. No joke.
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