Missing Link Completed

THE missing link on the Thame to Oxford cycle route has now been completed by Oxfordshire County Council and will be officially opened tomorrow, Friday, June 23, by cycle-friendly MP, Boris Johnson.
The work on the A418 between Thame and the Shabbington turn completes National Cycle Route 57.

The official opening will take place at 3pm in Thame where local MP Boris will be joined by the Chairman of Oxfordshire County Council, Cllr Lesley Legg at Highfield Close, Thame. Car parking is available at the Leisure Centre.
After the opening ceremony, those gathered will ride along the newly opened route towards Shabbington.

Sustrans, the UK?s leading sustainable transport charity, has been organising the launch to help celebrate the fact that the new A418 cycle facility has enabled the completion of the National Route 57 which is part of a wider Sustrans managed network of 10,000 miles of cycle routes in the UK.

Its representatives will be starting a ride from Oxford?s Broad Street Tourist Information Centre at 11.30am. The ride will arrive in Thame in time for the opening of the A418 route at 3pm. Cllr Lesley Legge, Chairman of Oxfordshire County Council, will also be present for this earlier event.

Oxfordshire County Council funded the work along with South Oxfordshire District Council and the government and a generous private donation.
Cllr Legge said: ?This shows the council?s commitment to supporting cyclists as part of a wider national network that Sustrans so capably campaigns for.
?I hope that the new route will increase the number of children cycling to the nearby Lord Williams School as well as being attractive to the many other cyclists in the area.?

The full route between Oxford and Thame is 14 miles.

Photo: By Glen Copus