The Route: what’s planned

The B4044 path will provide a safe, direct and continuous route from Eynsham to Botley. Apart from the point where it crosses the River Thames at the Swinford toll bridge, it will be entirely off-road and traffic free.  It is a key component of a long-term plan to build a network of paths that will link outlying towns and villages to Oxford city centre and the employment, educational and retail facilities available there.

The B4044 path has been designed specifically to link up with other Active Travel investments. For example, the B4044 path will link to the newly improved cycle and pedestrian paths along the Botley Road. These paths were notorious for being poorly designed and often led to conflicts between cyclists and car drivers turning across the cycle paths to access shops.

The B4044 path will start in Botley at the junction with the Eynsham Road and will serve the residents of both Dean Court and the Fogwell Road estate. At the A420 flyover the path will be located on one side of the road, which will be the north side or Wytham Wood side of the road, and will be wide enough for travel in both directions.

The path will continue on the north side of the B4044 passing Hill End Outdoor Education centre, Oakenholt Care and Residential Home, before serving the village of Farmoor. The path will continue uninterrupted to the toll bridge where it will cross the River Thames with its popular riverside path. At the toll bridge cyclists will join the main carriageway, which is slow moving at this point.

On the Eynsham side of the river, the path will be on both sides of the road as far as the roundabout where the B4044 crosses the ‘ring road’ around Eynsham. The roundabout will be re-designed to provide a safe crossing for cyclists and pedestrians and the path will then continue on the western or Eynsham side of the road, past Hazeldene Close before it terminates in the vicinity of the A40 roundabout, where the path will link up with planned new cycle routes to Witney, North Oxford along the A40 and in due course along Lower Road to Long Hanborough station.

The path will be built to the highest standards and in conformity with prevailing regulations and advice. Preliminary technical drawings for almost all of the route have already been completed and we expect final plans to be ready early in 2023.