Pedestrians are supposed to be at the top of the hierarchy in road use planning, but is this always the case? In a new series for the Oxford Mail, campaigner Sushila Dhall shines a light on some of the issues faced by walkers and wheelchair users.

Oxford Pedestrians Association (OxPA) was founded in 1995, in response to a powerless sense of literal marginalisation, due to constant encroaches on pavement and footway space in Oxford – by parked cars, cycles, bins, overhanging hedges, workers signs, and a general awareness that pavement users can be marginalised to the nth degree and nobody will say or do anything.

We work on behalf of all pedestrians, including wheelchair users and people with other mobility support needs, and our call is for pavements that are wide (two wheelchair users should be able to pass with comfort and dignity, and people should be able to walk side by side), level, continuous and unobstructed, and crossings that are responsive, level, and give enough time to cross. We also campaign for peaceful streets with clean air.

READ MORE: Lane closed after big crack appears on the A34 

Since OxPA started, the experience of our members has been that conditions have overall worsened in many ways (with the exception of Frideswide Square – a bold and beautiful step in the right direction), with cycle lanes and car parking placed on pavements by the use of painted white lines, increased motorised traffic (due in part to the Westgate centre pulling drivers into the city centre), scooter parks on pavements, huge unaddressed puddles (’ponding’) at pedestrians crossings after rain, workers signs all over pavements, poles and bus shelters narrowing already narrow routes, and following covid, street cafes on pavements – which we welcome but ask that space in the road be re-allocated to pedestrians to make up for the lost pavement space.

In response to these issues, OxPA has taken action over the years such as carrying out audits of pavements throughout the city, none of which are universally fit for purpose – a pavement is only as good as its narrowest, most obstructed part –which have demonstrated why so many walkers and wheelchair users cannot get around on pavements as they would like to.

Oxford Mail:

This was clearly shown in our survey of members on the recent proposal to regularise cycling on Cornmarket and Queen Street during working hours (overall OxPA members are against this) where a significant number of responders saying they never come into the city centre as it is inaccessible to them. Our audits have also shown that the two worst walking areas of Oxford are the routes between the rail station and the city centre, and Headington shopping area. These audits really do shine a light on the most common issues pedestrians face, and more information from them will be shared in future columns.

READ MORE: Thousands get ready for South Parks bonfire night 

OxPA campaigns continuously for improvements to the pedestrian realm, and perhaps our most famous success was the Human Bollards campaign two years ago where we put ourselves in place of non-working bollards on Oriel Square, Turl St and Broad St regularly for many months (see https://tinyurl.com/3jywns3d ).

Oxford Mail: Ironically it was the behaviour of some drivers that got us so much publicity – they screamed at, abused, threatened and even drove into us – which captured on camera brought the BBC in, and led to the reinstatement of the bollards. We thank Thames Valley police for their support of us during these fraught and frightening moments of the campaign. Drivers called the police demanding that we Human Bollards be moved, but the police pointed to the road signs and made the drivers turn back.

The success of the Human Bollards campaign has been encouraging to people who walk, and was again used by campaigners in protecting safe routes to school in subsequent protests against rat-running around schools. We gained new members through the Human Bollards campaign of pedestrians who saw OxPA’s success as highly encouraging.

We have often been asked if we can become Pedestrians Association for the whole of Oxfordshire, but for this to be possible we would need representatives in county towns and villages.

Currently we are engaged in finalising places for 14 benches on urban walking routes in the city, thanks to a generous donation to OxPA from the family of late member Keith Holly. Each bench will be engraved with a relevant poetic quote chosen by OxPA members. It is an important part of OxPA’s work that we give positively to the city as well as demonstrating what is not working and desperately needs improvement.

Help support trusted local news 

Sign up for a digital subscription now: oxfordmail.co.uk/subscribe 

As a digital subscriber you will get: 

  • Unlimited access to the Oxford Mail website 
  • Advert-light access 
  • Reader rewards 
  • Full access to our app 

About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.