Local campaigners have marched through the centre of Bicester to campaign against Bicester town centre being divided into two by a new rail line and for a new vehicle-free underpass.
The East-West Rail line (EWR) is due to become partly operational later this month and will eventually connect the cities of Oxford and Cambridge. However, the line will cut through the town centre, and the present level crossing will be closed.
Previously, both the Department for Transport and EWR had proposed a pedestrian footbridge over the railway line, a suggestion that was widely criticised by residents and the local MP. At the time, more than 4,500 people signed a petition calling for vehicle access across the line to be maintained.
More recently, more than 100 local businesses signed a letter demanding that an underpass be built to provide access to vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. A march was also held through the town centre calling for the town to not be split into two.
But whilst the local MP and many businesses support vehicular access through a single-lane ‘shuttle system’, the Bicester Bicycle Users Group (BBUG) is calling for the underpass to be made vehicle free. They’ve also produced designs of what their proposal would look like, with parking spaces and bus stops planned on either side.
“We were really pleased by the attendance for the march,” BBUG chairman Paul Troup told road.cc. “Everyone realises the underpass is the only way[..] it would be ludicrous to consider connecting the two halves of town with a tiny, inaccessible, narrow footbridge.
“But there’s definitely a split. The biggest worry is the [Department for Transport] see people want a car underpass, but they don’t see the justification when the [town] centre is being pedestrianised so you’re left with a footbridge, and our point of view is squeezed out.
Bicester Underpass proposal (credit: Bicester Bike Users Group)
“We’re very worried frankly because an underpass has been costed quite high. Infrastructure costs are laughably high, whereas a pedestrian bridge would be quite cheap even if it’s unusable.”
Troup also said their shared proposals had been warmly received but that question marks remained over their feasibility. He added their points had been made to EWR in several meetings but that “it’s difficult to know how much progress we’re making when the talks haven’t been very substantive.”
A decision by the Treasury and the Department for Transport is expected in the next week, ahead of the Budget on the 26th November. A government spokesperson previously told the BBC it was considering “options for the future of the London Road level crossing, balancing costs with any impacts on the community”.