Broad Street consultation
Consultation has concluded
*This consultation has now ended and the survey is closed*
Introduction
The Broad Street project transforms an historic city street into a welcoming public space in the heart of the city. It is delivered under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order and will provisionally be in place until spring 2024. This means that it can be enjoyed all year round, with regular activities/events to visit and take part in. Seasonal planting and an integrated irrigation system keep it vibrant and attractive throughout.
This wider pedestrian area complemented with seating and planting creates an environment where people can meet with friends and socialise, or just take a break and enjoy the area between working, sightseeing, shopping, dining, or seeing shows or concerts. There are more details in our press releases – which you can access from our website project page linked above.
Depending on the successes and experiences of the scheme during the 18-month trial period, there is scope to consider extending the project, potentially make further improvements or repeat it in future (subject to funding). This would involve opening it out to further public consultation to help decide and shape any future proposals.
The project aligns with our commitments to prioritise health and wellbeing, preserve and improve access to nature and green spaces, and work with local businesses and partners for environmental, economic and social benefit.
Background
As one of our priorities, we are delivering new access to green space throughout Oxfordshire’s urban areas, to promote wellbeing, and a greener cityscape while encouraging less reliance on motor vehicles for local trips.
Providing a social open space in Oxford’s Broad Street builds on the success of a similar project between July and October 2021 which attracted more than 100,000 visitors with 90% of respondents to a consultation by Oxford City Council saying they would like to see the project happen again.
A statutory consultation to temporarily relocate some car and bicycle parking which is necessary for this project to be implemented was open from 24 August to 16 September 2022. That consultation has now closed.
Have your say
Survey: The purpose of this Broad Street consultation is to gather your views and feedback on, and experience of the project. We encourage you to read the documents provided before you complete the survey and/or provide your feedback. This survey is open for responses until the end of 31 July 2023.
Please fill in our online survey by clicking the ‘TAKE SURVEY’ button below.
Guestbook:
We'd love to hear from you with your ideas and short comments on your experience of the Broad Street project! As well as, or instead of completing the survey, you can leave a comment in our Guestbook.
You do not need to fill in the survey to submit something to our Broad Street project guestbook, and you can comment anonymously.
If you have a specific question about the project please email broadst@oxfordshire.gov.uk(External link)
The cycling/pedestrian lane is barely wide enough at busy times
It's nice to see flowers in the town to support bees etc.
The scheme so far is better than what was there before, espacially with parking banned, but it really looks half-hearted and temporary. Will the planting survive a long. hot summer? Broad Street still looks like a road that has been partially and temporarily changed, as if for a one-off event, but with the old tarmac surface, pavements, etc still in place, so that it looks like it will revert back to a normal road at any time. It has the potential to be a glorious piazza-style space but this has only been feebly realised so far, and so it needs a comprehensive and imaginative re-design, including the whole surface replaced, vehicles limited to deliveries and quality furniture and fittings. Expensive, of course, but you get what you pay for, and maybe there is a rich patron somewhere, perhaps an alumnus, with a soft spot for Oxford who could stump up a million or two. And the university could make a contribution as well.
Spent the day in Oxford last week and was delighted to see the transformation of Broad Street. It was full of tourists and visitors and was a pleasure to be in. It's an impressive location and deserves to be more than a car park
The downside is that it makes Broad Street very noisy, affecting countless people who reside or work in adjacent buildings.
Also: it is wrong to eliminate parking spaces on Broad Street, which were so convenient for temporary access to shops and other city centre services. The price of the alternative parking in Parks Road (near Broad Street) is now ridiculously expensive. To 'encourage' reduced car should not mean imposing unreasonable terms on citizens or visitors.
Whilst I think the intention is laudable and during the summer months having additional outside public non-commercial space should be beneficial, as a cyclist using Broad Street most days the 'closed-off' section opposite Blackwells & the White Horse now creates an incredibly narrow bottleneck on the remaining carriageway. This is made even worse when the Tourist buses are parked by the stop next to the closed off area making the road effectively single lane and incredibly dangerous when trying to pass stationary buses in particular as you are having to pull out into potentially oncoming traffic - a situation which will only get worse when the foliage in the planters starts to flower and 'bulk up' further reducing visibility. The narrowness of the road at both ends due to the blocked off areas also make it more hazardous for pedestrians crossing the road as they are channelled into confined areas with little room for manoeuvre or escape from traffic and cyclists.
The street furniture looks cheap and not in keeping with a historic area of Oxford. For 500k the paving should have been sorted, rather than cracked tarmac. Very poor value for money
Lovely to spend some time in Broad Street watching the Oxford Folk Festival performers. Removing the car parking has made the street much quieter as no noise from traffic which we noticed most when we walked round in to Parks Road as could hear birds in the trees; as well as providing space for community events.
This is a great start, and a huge improvement on the previous situation. I hope the project will continue and become more ambitious - give the area a proper city square makeover with more plants, more permanent fixtures for sitting, more attractive street surface appropriate for a pedestrianised area (the tarmac still feels like giant parking lot). If it is possible, further restrict vehicle traffic. It needs to remain open as a cycle route, with clear pedestrian priority.
I'm disappointed in the Broad Street project. I thought it was going to be a proper 'piazza' - completely pedestrianised, safe for children to play in, with some decent greenery. In its current incarnation, Broad Street does not feel like a safe or pleasant place to sit. There are still too many vehicles passing through, plus cyclists. The road closure is only partial so you have to constantly be on the lookout for vehicles. The infrastructure looks awful and very temporary. Overall really disappointing. I wholeheartedly support the pedestrianisation of Broad Street but this version feels like a limp and lacklustre attempt at realising what could be a revolutionary change for central Oxford.