Oxford Christmas market may have to leave space for cycle lane

Oxfordshire County Council is set to review whether to declare Broad Street, Oxford, where the market takes place, a priority route which its report says would see it “open to cyclists continuously without any interruption” unless there are “exceptional circumstances”.

The option was one put forward when considering whether to keep 50 metres – half the length of a football pitch – of St Michael’s Street, a more secluded run that runs parallel, shut off to cyclists to allow hospitality venues to keep outdoor seating that was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The route used to allow bikes to head along St Michael’s Street, across the busier Cornmarket Street and down Ship Street in order to avoid George Street and Broad Street. 

Danny Yee, an active travel enthusiast, argued less confident cyclists may be put off pedal power by the closure. 

“There are very limited east-to-west cycling routes across Oxford centre and the problems from blocking the quietest and least stressful of those should be clear from the objections,” he said.

“The problems do not just arise when Broad Street is blocked, St Michael’s is an essential route at all times for less confident cyclists, especially children. 

“St Michael’s Street is also a marked cycling route in the county’s cycling and walking infrastructure plan. I don’t see how blocking it can possibly be consistent with that.”

His suggestion was to keep St Michael’s Street closed to motor traffic but allow cycling, citing “woeful” options for people to get across the city centre by bike.

Oxford Christmas Market. Picture by Tim Hughes

Despite expressing “a lot of sympathy” with Mr Yee’s assessment, Councillor Tim Bearder, the county’s cabinet member for highway management and the man who has the final say, sanctioned an extension to the temporary closure and asked council officers to look into options for Broad Street. 

“That gives us more time to work out how we are going to get traffic through the city, particularly cyclists, in a more planned way,” he said. 

“That should look at bringing in measures that don’t ever block off Broad Street, even when they have fayres.

“We are on a hierarchy of things where we put pedestrians first and strictly, it (St Michael’s Street) leads you into Cornmarket Street which you should not be crossing.

“It is not an ideal cycle route that we want to encourage, so I welcome the introduction of those cafes on the street. I don’t particularly want to change that.”

The previous order had been due to expire on March 4. No end date has been set against the extension of the temporary permission.

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