Abingdon Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP)

LCWIPs are a strategic approach to identifying cycling and walking improvements at the local level. They enable a long-term approach to developing local cycling and walking networks over the next ten years and form a vital part of the Government’s strategy to increase the number of trips made on foot or by cycle. Further information can be found here:

The consultation for the Abingdon LCWIP closed on the 30 November 2022. As part of the consultation an online map and a questionnaire was provided to responders. The map allowed consultees to add pins to various locations where they wished to provide specific feedback on the proposals.

You said

The following sentiment towards the plans was obtained from the questionnaire:

• 60.4% of correspondents said they thought the infrastructure improvements were ‘Good – ambitious and adequate set of proposals’
• 31.3% of correspondents said they were ‘Mixed – some appropriate and some inappropriate or negative suggestions’
• 5.2% of correspondents said they were ‘Bad – mostly inadequate or negative proposals’
• 3.1% of correspondents said they were ‘No response’

We did

The pins on the online map were collated and categorised using the following table.

Following this classification, the LCWIP was then adjusted as follows:

To be included in the first version of the LCWIP

• Junction improvements to prioritise safe walking and cycling at the junction of Tollgate Road and the A415
• Junction improvements to prioritise safe walking and cycling along the A415 at its junctions with Thame Lane and the front access to Europa School
• Formalise cycling route between Boxhill Walk and Boxhill Road
• Controlled crossings at Fairacres roundabout
• Clarification of the need for active travel improvements along the B4017 to
• Whitecross and Wootton – as well as through the Dalton Barracks site
• Controlled crossing at the south (Drayton) end of the B4017 shared use route to enable safe access to and from the route at peak times
• Off-carriageway path alongside Thrupp Lane to reduce conflict with commercial traffic
• Explicit mention of consideration for the impact of a redesign of the Oxford Road junction with Northcourt Road and Appleford Drive on Northcourt Lane
• Controlled crossings at the Vineyard mini roundabout
• Widening and resurfacing of the link from Crabtree Place to NCN5 in Barton Fields
• Removal of the barrier between Queen Street and the Market Place
• Explicitly mention consideration of the impact of the soffit height of a bridge in the vicinity of the marina on sailing activity on this stretch of the Thames
• Explicitly mention the need to consider the impact on equestrians of schemes in areas with more rural characters or on public rights of way with access rights for equestrians
• Controlled crossing on Twelve Acre Drive at the access to Peachcroft Farm
• Explicit mention of consideration for temporary or experimental walking and cycling improvements on A415 bridge
• Improve cycle parking provision at: White Horse Leisure Centre (covered), Ock Street, bus stops on Oxford Road and Stratton Way
• Controlled crossing of A415 at Rye Farm car park access
• Miscellaneous minor changes to the report which provides the supporting text for the proposals in the LCWIP (e.g., correction of errors identified through consultation) and to the appendices (e.g., map format changes)

To be considered for inclusion through the LCWIP review process

• Reclassify Spring Road from a secondary route to a primary route
• Include access improvements (barrier removal and cycle parking at the park itself) for pedestrians and cyclists to the private roads around Albert Park. This will require engagement with and approval from the landowner and requires further investigation.
• Surfacing and widening of the Ock Valley River Walk for use in all seasons
• Access improvements for walking and cycling to Abingdon Business Park
• (Blacklands Way and Wyndyke Furlong) (requires further investigation including engagement with and approval from the landowner)
• Traffic filter at the iron bridge over the River Ock to the southwest of St Helen’s Wharf
• Controlled (zebra or parallel) crossing over Abbey Close at the desire line between old Station Yard and the route adjacent to Waitrose
• Consider alternative routes between Abingdon and Marcham, including the (currently closed) bridleway route via Marcham Mill
• Improvements for walking and cycling on Caldecott Road – including improved access to Drayton Road from the service road and junction improvements at the junction with Blacknall Road
• Resurface the concrete (rigid road) section of Peep’O’Day Lane (noting that the Thames Water site is accessed by this route and the potential for surface changes may be limited)
• Rationalise and reduce street clutter (largely associated with traffic signals) in the shared use path at the junction of Drayton Road and Preston Road (requires further investigation)
• Crossing improvements over Oxford Road at the junction with Sugworth Lane and Church Lane
• Improve access between Wootton Road and the side streets to the east for cycling
• Barrier removal on the path immediately to the south of Fitzharris trading estate (between Wootton Road and Springfield Drive) (requires further investigation including engagement with and approval from the landowner)
• Street lighting for the walking and cycling route adjacent to Radley Road between Twelve Acre Drive and Foxborough Road
• Consider directing cycles through the car park adjacent to Bury Street, rather than through Bury Street (including rearrangement of the cycle parking behind the Black Swan pub) (requires further investigation including engagement with and approval from the landowner)
• Consider adding Vintner Road to the network (note that this route is private)

Not suitable for inclusion in the LCWIP

• Suggestions for new routes where delivery is not considered to be feasible at this time
• Suggestions for restrictions on vehicular traffic with significant implications for the operation of the wider highway network, or for changes to public transport provision, both of which will need to be considered carefully through the forthcoming Area Travel Plan (which will cover all modes of transport, rather than just active travel)
• Suggestions which go against national and international best practice in cycle infrastructure design (e.g., prohibiting cycles from using the carriageway when there is an off-carriageway facility present)
• Suggestions for infrastructure which is outside the geographical scope of the LCWIP (note that some additional proposals on the A415 have been included and many of these out of scope issues have been referred to the neighbouring Didcot LCWIP project)
• Requests for maintenance. Whilst maintenance of walking and cycling infrastructure is a key issue, these issues are not well suited for inclusion in an LCWIP because capital funding (which the LCWIP is intended to help secure) is not generally available to spend on maintenance of existing assets. Maintenance issues raised during the Abingdon LCWIP consultation have been referred to maintenance colleagues for review and action as appropriate.

More information from the initial consultation can be found here: