A walkway along Botley Road next to Oxford’s train station may not be completed before vehicles can use the road again, according to fresh details.

The route was closed at the railway bridge on April 11, 2023, to enable Network Rail to undertake building work as part of a major overhaul of the station.

The three-year shutdown has now reached costs totalling £237 million. Although a replacement railway bridge has been constructed, major building has not yet begun on adding a new platform 5 for East West Rail services, nor on creating a new western access point for the station.

Network Rail has indicated that Botley Road should reopen by late August, though it remains unclear whether construction can be completed on two new footpaths on either side of Botley Road near the railway bridge.

During the road closure, walkers have been using a series of temporary routes, with an early version being called the tunnel of doom.

While the footpath on the southern side of the road by the Westgate Hotel will be finished as planned, the northern footpath likely will not be.

A Network Rail representative said they were continuing to aim for reopening Botley Road by August 31, 2026.

When the road reopens, the southern footpath will be available. They are currently reviewing the timeline for finishing the northern footpath.

Although they continue to explore whether the northern footpath can be completed at the same time, priority remains on reopening the road and one footpath in August.

Labour city councillor Susanna Pressel said the expected delay was disappointing and regrettable.

She added that towards the end of the most recent residents meeting on March 24, Network Rail shared some surprising information.

They suddenly announced that the northern footpath would probably not be ready until approximately the second week of September.

By June or July the new southern footpath would already be finished, and everyone would be using it. It would be spacious and well-ventilated, with separate space for cyclists.

Until the road opens, the southern footpath would need to handle pedestrians and cyclists travelling in both directions, so marshals would probably be enforcing the rule for cyclists to get off their bikes. Most cyclists would likely use the road as soon as it reopened at the end of August.

Former county councillor John Howson, who lives close to the railway station, felt Network Rail should have given greater priority to completing both footpaths.

He said this was not good enough. The whole project should be handed back to the county council by August 31, and that must include both footpaths.

It would create dangers for cyclists coming into the city, as they would use the newly reopened road instead of crossing to use the southern footpath.

Quite simply, Network Rail had been given enough time to finish the project, the footpaths should not have been affected by the discovery of the brick arch under the road, and rather than stopping all work, Network Rail should have made the footpaths a priority.