Parking could be removed from a city shopping street as Oxford County Council looking to add double yellow lines as well as allow two-way cycling.

Proposals for South Parade, which joins Woodstock Road to Banbury Road in Summertown, would see all the existing lengths of single-yellow lanes on the northern side of the road replaced with double-yellow lines.

It would also see two-way cycling introduced, with the current one-way restriction for motor traffic remaining.

South Parade and Banbury Road form the main shopping centre of Summertown where there are also several restaurants located there.

Towards Woodstock Road, South Parade leads into St Edward's School and the North Wall Arts Centre.

The proposal said it would “help facilitate the provision of convenient and direct routes for cyclists” and use national guidance to allow two-way cycling on one-way streets with appropriate road signs and markings.

It added that the proposed double yellow lines would “ensure the safe movement of all traffic and the passage of pedestrians”.

The council added they would be “mindful” of the existing width of Middle Way, which joins South Parade opposite Strathfield Road, 

Middle Way does not permit vehicles to be parked on both sides of the road unless a vehicle is partly parked on the footway, however, the proposal said that vehicles are “frequently parked partly on the footway”.

The proposal has already got residents talking and voicing their opinions to X (formerly Twitter) discussing whether they think the proposal is it’s a good or bad idea.

Simon Proud, an Earth observation scientist based in Oxford, posted: “Nice idea, but drivers ignore the double yellows on the corner with Banbury Rd anyway, so I suspect they'll ignore these double yellows too.”

A librarian in Oxford Owen McKnight wrote: “This is sensible. I wasn't sure about contraflow cycling on Howard Street when it was introduced with the East Oxford LTNs, but drivers seem to be respectful (partly because there is so much less traffic that they're no longer hustling for every centimetre).

The council is now asking for the public's views on the proposal and is asking for any objections to be sent online or in writing to county hall before 12pm on January 12.

The county council will review the responses and if necessary prepare a report to be presented to the Cabinet Member for Highway Management at a meeting scheduled for early in 2024.

This will be a public meeting at which members of the public may apply to speak.

The agenda and reports for meetings will be made available on the Oxfordshire County Council website about a week before the meeting.