Valley Park roundabout design still not good enough

Urgent: Planning application has been amended. Respond by 22 Jan 2020

The Link Road roundabout is an important part of Science Vale Cycle Network commuting route from Harwell campus through Harwell village to Didcot, and for cyclists and pedestrians from the village going to Didcot, including students going to schools.  The roundabout will be enhanced when Valley Park is developed.

In June last year, we objected to the proposed design:

Sustainable Harwell objects to proposed roundabout design changes due to Valley Park

The Valley Park Planning application has been updated, and the design has been modified slightly, but we still have significant concerns.

The Valley Park Planning application

Look for 2020-12-14 – Revised plans  >  Access plans

and the current design plan for the roundabout is: 10219-HL-61-100-004 C Planning.pdf 
(note that because of a technical problem with the Vale Website, we cannot link directly to PDF files – you will have to go and find them) 

 

 

What’s the problem?

None of our original concerns we listed before have been addressed.

HarBUG have also commented on the new design and our concerns are aligned with theirs.  Their written response to The Vale is available here.

 

As before, please comment on the Valley Park planning application (by 22 Jan)

The page to comment is here:

We suggest you comment along the following lines:

“As a Harwell resident, I object to the proposed design of the roundabout on the B4493 east of Harwell. The design still prioritises cars over pedestrians and cyclists. Please ensure the roundabout is redesigned to make it faster and safer for pedestrians and cyclists to journey between Harwell and Didcot.

The current design would increase the likelihood that I would drive a car rather than walk or cycle. Please make sure that the design follows Oxfordshire County Council’s Design for Cycling Standards and its aim for ‘good highway design, which prioritises and creates dedicated space for cycling and walking”.

 

If you want to make more specific reference to the Oxfordshire County Council’s Design for Cycling Standards , you can find it here. 

As an example of how the proposed design doesn’t meet the OCC standards, see page 22 which defines standards for junctions, and distinguishes between tangential and radial layouts. The proposed Valley Park design is clearly a tangential layout, which is not recommended; a simpler radial layout is preferred, so as to slow traffic. 

Para 3.3.5: “Approaches, exits and the geometry of roundabouts should aim to cause traffic to slow down to use the roundabout and therefore reduce the risk to cycle users – roundabout entry should be radial, not tangential, in order to slow traffic.”