A BOULEVARD-STYLE design has been chosen as the best way to replace the traffic lights in Oxford’s Frideswide Square.

Oxfordshire County Council officers have settled on the boulevard after discounting an alternative oval-shaped layout, as they try to improve the flow of traffic through the bottleneck outside the railway station.

The boulevard, right, would see the creation of a large roundabout at the entrance to the station and two mini-roundabouts at the other end of the square, in front of the Royal Oxford Hotel.

Construction work is expected to start early next year.

The scheme will also create large public open spaces on three sides of the square, with traffic and bus stops in the centre.

The council’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday is being recommended to endorse the boulevard and drop the oval option.

Highways officers said the boulevard design would benefit local businesses and offered the best chance of creating a thriving new gateway to the city centre.

It is viewed as being the more flexible option, with further regeneration in the area expected to follow.

And the council believes it will offer greater scope to address the concerns of city cyclists, who last month branded both options potential death-traps, which could lead to “unacceptable conflict between road users”.

The alternative scheme would have needed Oxford University to hand over land in front of the Said Business School.

Council spokesman Paul Smith said: “The aim is to produce an area that can better handle the tens of thousands of journeys that use the square every day, with traffic flowing slowly but steadily.

“The scheme will form a key part of the redevelopment of the railway station area, so that it will be a welcoming gateway to Oxford. The station has experienced 50 per cent passenger growth since 2003.”

The preferred option will see all the existing traffic lights, installed in 1999 taken out.

It draws heavily on the European “shared space” principles of urban design, including compact roundabouts, reduced carriageway areas, courtesy crossings and landscaping.

Senior transport planner Martin Kraftl has written to cyclists’ group Cyclox telling them that “cycle provision will be one of our main priorities”.

Cyclox vice-chairman Richard Mann said: “The boulevard design gives better scope for turning it into a cycle-friendly place.

“But it will need a lot of design work. We’re anxious to work with the council.

“But there remains a risk that they will not find a good solution.”

The group is concerned about the absence of separate cycle lanes in the entrances to the square, narrow lanes and the difficulties for riders negotiating three roundabouts.

The scheme will cost £3.7m, with the council putting in £1.5m. A similar amount will come from developer contributions and £700,000 from the West End Partnership, the body behind the regeneration of the area.

Clinton Pugh, who owns Cafe Coco in the square, said: “This can only be a positive thing for local businesses. It’s a fantastic location and the scheme is bound to help, considering this is the gateway to Oxford. There will be roadworks, but nobody minds when something good comes out of it.

"Frideswide Square was a mistake right from the beginning and it should have been transformed years ago.”