Winnaway – Latest News

 

Last Wednesday HarBUG and Harwell Campus met with the County Council to go through plans for the Winnaway.

 

Construction is due to start on the 3rd August (to be confirmed) and will be in three stages:

1. 3rd August – A4185 section from the end of the Winnaway down to the traffic crossing point on the Sustrans route.
2. 17th August – A417 junction changes in Harwell village.
3. 31st August – The Winnaway path between the A417 and A4185, also the Sustrans 544 stretch east from the Campus.

There are still issues to be solved with the Winnaway.

The householders at the top are still opposed to the path, we asked why they objected and the only thing OCC could say was that they ‘don’t like cyclists’. The path will be built but will switch over to the field side of the track at the top (which is owned by the farmer, who is OK with the path). The path will be 2m wide where possible but will go down to 1m at one point where the path runs alongside the track and behind the bus stop on the A4185, due to space limitations.

As previously noted, the path cannot be officially signed and mapped unless it changes to a bridleway. The County Council have consulted with the British Horse Society who have put forward two options for ‘horse friendly’ surface finishes. One is an unbonded surface and the other is a special tarmac surface, which is more expensive than the tarmac surface we would be happy with. No surprises, the County Council have put forward the unbonded surface as a solution. HarBUG made it clear that an unbonded surface is not acceptable. Harwell Campus agreed and pointed out that some of the A417 improvements were not part of the original bid and that the money awarded was for cycle provision and this should take priority.

The bridleway status will not be changed in time so both HarBUG and Harwell Campus agreed that the work should commence and the dedication process should carry on after completion of the works.

On the A417 in Harwell village there probably won’t be enough space for an island refuge as part of the safe crossing point. HarBUG asked that other measures be introduced to let A417 motorists know that cyclists and pedestrians are crossing e.g. different surface coating, LED lights that flash when cyclists / pedestrians are present. This is all subject to safety audit.

At the A417 end of the Winnaway, originally the end of the track / drive was supposed to be re-surfaced, this is not going ahead due to potential future liabilities for the County Council as it is a private drive.

The rebuild of the Sustrans 544 on the stretch immediately east of the Campus is going ahead. This has no problems; it is already a bridleway and there is enough space for a 2m tarmac path and for horses to ride next to the path. The only issue is access to the path for for construction traffic but this being looked at.

More details when as we get them. There will be road closures, paths closed etc. during construction, details to follow.