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Oxford University Park no cycling signs (Image credit: @BicycleBenUK/Twitter)No cycles whether ridden or not: "Ridiculous and petty" sign banning bikes in Oxford University Parks slammed
Oxford University Parks' no cycling policy has been labelled "petty, discriminatory and ridiculous" after signs were spotted banning cycles, whether ridden or not.
A photo of a sign, at the access from Parks Road/Northam Gardens, was shared on Twitter, prompting criticism from cyclists and active travel proponents.
Vocal cycling advocate and Vine on 5 presenter Jeremy Vine called the signs "disgusting", while the cyclist who took the photo said it is a "ridiculous restriction in a so-called cycling city".
Sharing the photo to Twitter, they said: "This has annoyed me before and it annoys me now. How petty, discriminatory and inaccessible is Oxford University that they don't even allow cycles to be pushed through Oxford University Parks? Ridiculous restriction in the so-called Cycling City".
This has annoyed me before and it annoys me now. How petty, discriminatory and inaccessible is @OxUniParks @UniofOxford that they don't even allow cycles to be pushed through Oxford University Parks? Ridiculous restriction in the so-called Cycling City. pic.twitter.com/EEUxPgwbrY
— BicycleBenUK 🚲🚶♂️🛴🇪🇺 (@BicycleBenUK) April 11, 2022
Ben told us: "It’s been there a little while; I first noticed it and tweeted about it back in April 2020. I don’t live in the city but visit family."
It is believed the ban has been place for at least 15 years, and although inconvenient to anyone travelling to the area by bike, The Parks do not have a through route to anywhere. Running along the southern boundary of The Parks, separated by a fence, is a shared-use path which then crosses the River Cherwell and provides a cycle route to St Clements and Marston.
The University Parks, often called The Parks, is a 70-acre site in the heart of Oxford, overseen by a "Superintendent" and maintained by a team of gardeners who also work on 200 other green spaces across the city.
According to The Parks' website, it is "an escape from the hustle and bustle of the City, but conveniently located right at its heart, is the green oasis offered by University Parks – with something to please everyone.
"For those that enjoy sport there’s the opportunity, depending on the season, to catch a game of cricket, lacrosse, tennis, football or rugby. Harry Potter fans may even encounter a game of Quidditch in play."
As per The Parks' rules, enforced by University of Oxford security services, no cycling or cycles are allowed, but Oxford University Security Officers and University Parks staff "have the authority to cycle through University Parks to enable them to carry out their duties."
road.cc has contacted the University of Oxford and University Parks for comment on the signs, and will update this story with any information we receive.
Last month, the University of Oxford paid tribute to an "incredibly kind and delightful colleague" after a second faculty member was killed while cycling on the city's roads in the space of a month.
> "One month, two dead cyclists": Oxford's cycling city sign defaced after second death
Oxford University said it will "push for investments" to improve cycling safety after the death of Dr Ling Felce, who died in a collision with a lorry being driven at The Plain on 1 March.
Three weeks earlier, on February 8, Ellen Moilanen, an academic administrator at Reuben College, was killed near Oxford Parkway Station.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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27 comments
i wonder what would happen if one folded up one's Brompton, picked it up and strolled through the park. Would any locals like to try and report back?
What is needed here is some organised, malicious compliance. I see no rule against tricycles. Or unicycles. Or pictures of bicycles. Or parts of bicycles (just take the front wheel off). Or starting club / group / Critical Mass rides just outside the entrance of the Parks.
With summer coming up, I can see much fun to be had here.
I suspect they're going to see some challenges under disability access legislation coming pretty soon if they're overly rigorous with this...
Oxford is a self proclaimed cycling city, good by UK standards, but nothing to write home about in a wider context. Hardly Utrecht is it?
Ignore them and cary on.
If I lived in Oxford I'd be wandering around that park with my bike on my shoulder.
https://youtu.be/Sj3OJilVeOI
Windsor Great Park has areas where bikes are banned "either ridden or pushed" - was very tempted a couple of weeks ago to walk through with bike on shoulder!
Brings to mind Lord Byron and the bear (although that was Cambridge) - just ask them to define a bike and then the fun begins.
The University of Oxford is by far the largest employer in Oxfordshire, owning much of the city centre property. The majority of their students cycle. I find it quite extraordinary that they do so little to support cycling. That they provide hundreds of work place parking for their 'senior' academic and research staff despite the city being served by several park and ride systems says a lot about their view on sustainable travel.
These signs have been up for several years. It's the 'whether ridden or not' bit I have an issue with.
Watch out users of pushchairs, prams or wheelchairs, you could be next.
Several years? Pretty sure those signs were up in the 80s, and certainly in the 90s
I was at St Johns (near The Parks) for 7 years and travelled daily to South Parks Road where the labs are, by bike and foot. Never felt the need to ride through the parks, and I don't see this as a big issue. Unless it is expressly forbidden every available railing will be six deep in shonky bikes in a week. The roads round the side of the park are an easier way to get around, we don't need every path to be an active transport route.
The restriction makes it more likely that "every available railing will be six deep in shonky bikes". If it wasn't there, people could keep their bikes with them while in the park. As it is, when they arrive on their bike, they have to find somewhere to leave it (which likely means the nearest available railing) before they can enter.
Did you ever feel the need to push or carry a cycle through the park? This is what the article is discussing, not cycling through the park.
No, if I was going from one place to another I'd just go round parks rd/South Parks. It's not far.
If you weren't planning on going in to the park in the first place, then your experience hardly seems relevant.
So ... in your eyes, it is perfectly fine to say to people who use a bicycle as their day to day transport that they basically cannot visit this park to meet friends (for example) unless they can walk there? Or take a taxi?
Am I safe assuming that there is no facility to park and secure bikes around the park so that people can cycle there and not take them in?
No, you are not safe in making that assumption. Why not go and have a look?
There's nothing really at the Northam Gardens entrance in question. There is provision just down from the St Cross Road entrance (out of sight at the corner at the end here), but even then, you'd be safe assuming that it's generally insufficient for the number of people wishing to use it.
So the Parks Authority are saying: 'No cycling. And no not cycling' Given that Oxford is a self-proclaimied cycling city, I would have thought that quite a few visitors to the Parks might arrvive by bike? And yet the authority won't let them be wheeled in?
But a stray cricket ball, which could kill? No problem.
It's not even a valid sign - the red circle usually means "not allowed", so the bar through it must mean "end of no cycling area".
I thought the sign perfectly mirrors the text; both express the idea that you may neither cycle nor not cycle!
__
[Just f*** off with your bike]
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I'd be inclined to completely ignore these signs. If they'd stuck to just no riding bikes I'd probably abide by them but with this additional nonsense they can do one.
Are wheelchairs banned too? They presumably cause the same issues as someone walking with a bike (IE - zero).
What is their reasoning, I wonder?
Are they that concerned that someone walking their bike through just won't be able to restrain themselves and will leap astride their bike?
It certainly can't be "wear and tear" on the footpaths, as they allow their own staff to ride (the horror!) and I don't imagine that they've banned prams/pushchairs, wheelchairs or walking frames?
Are bikes that scary to them?
Yes of course, don't you know that biccyles eat people?
Or something like that anyway.