TECHNICAL INFORMATION ONLY: Road Paint: Hycolour 193 spec

It's a bit dreary, but here's all the product info on the road paint, Hycolour 193. Much of this information is not important, but if anyone who has authorship privileges would care to edit it, all would be grateful.

Painted 'Carpet' retroreflective pattern

This is the part of the pattern that will light up at night. The green diamonds represent possible locations for the planters. The 'stealth bomber' shapes will be biased against the direction of traffic entering the street so as to suggest an oppositional flow whilst visually protecting the planters and alerting motorists.

Painted 'Carpet' Pattern

Above is the painted carpet pattern, as it will appear in locations C2, C3 and C4. The carpet at C1 will be half again as long, and there will be a doubling in length of C2 but with the narrower gaps between 'tiles' for consistency. Retroreflective beads will appear on some of the lighter coloured tiles, as per order of OCC Highways Department (the alternative was double-yellow lines being drawn around all features). No 'carpet' pattern will be intruding into the car parking spots.

In addition, as per order of the OCC Highways Department, a 3m plain strip of "Fawn" colour will bookend both ends of the street (see RC1 and RC2 on the map that's down a couple of posts before this one). This will not be a carpet pattern, but will have retroreflective beads embedded in it to make the street safer at night. This is especially important for safety, to create the separation between the 'car world' of the ranks of parked cars, and the 'wonderland' in between. As there is now doubt about whether or not the raised tables we lobbied so hard for will actually be built, this subtle coloured gateway was the solution arrived at by BCRA and OCC Highways Authority.

Schedule of works

Read through this long schedule for any details on what's happening when. It references the map below.

FINAL DIY STREET PLAN, APPROVED

Click on the map for a larger version of the final signed-off street plan for the DIY Streets. A schedule of works will be posted separately, and all residents will receive a detailed summary of which houses will be affected in what way and when, so as to plan around the moments and locations of the temporary ban on motor vehicles during the works. Volunteers from each hamlet to work on the project are desperately needed to make it a reality. Already, the St Catherine's College landscape crew have agreed to do the planting, all the committee members will be putting their oar in, volunteers from Bristol and London are eager to get started, and art technicians from MAO are being hired. But we still have many man-hours to find to make this a reality in time for Halloween. Believe me, it will be a rewarding experience. Contact Shirley Clark on shirley.clark8@gmail.com to sign up for a task, and be prepared to surrender at least a whole day's work, as there will never be an opportunity to create something like this together again.

Victorian cycle rack v9 with trellis planter buffer

Here are the final drawings of the Victorian cycle rack, currently submitted to OCC for final approval and sign off. Witney Welding will be doing the fabrication.

Schedule of BCR DIY Streets installation works

1. "Street party closures" have been requested for most weekends in October (2/3, 16/17, 23/24 and 30/31) in order for the BCRA to do the road painting, prepare planters and cycle racks, and place the trees in the planters. Formal approval to be confirmed by OCC.

Plantlock Turnstile Bollard Concept

Here is a rough idea of what an 'improved' Plantlock might look like, if paired with a bollard. This turnstile bollard actually spins in the unlikely event of an incident. The Plantlock is painted in the same livery as the Victorian Cycle rack to maintain a level of consitency. The vanes of the turnstile bollard are all retro-reflective white. This idea has been forwarded to OCC for consideration. Residents who will be using them are invited to get involved designing these, as manufacturing must begin by end September 2010 in order to be installed in time.

The bollards are inspired by existing speed control bollards at various places around Oxford. You've probably seen them if you're on a bicycle. They're the ones on Cutteslowe footbridge and at various places around the city.

Victorian cycle rack, T profile with bollard

On Sunday 5 September Ed and I dummied up the Victorian cycle rack in front of 37/39.

The "T" profile is a significant improvement on the old "H" profile in the original spec as it actually allows for more bikes to attach to it, it's more stable (and therefore does not need bolting to the street) and has a less intrusive footprint, allowing access to the sewer main as well as easier access to drives for numbers 39 and 38.

It looks a bit dumpy in the photo, but with gloss black railing paint and white retro-reflective details, it should look quite handsome. There will be a Victorian bollard in place of the plastic drain pipe in the photo.

Also bear in mind the partial arched element that rises above the western pillar will not form part of the final design (we just didn't have time to remove it from the pillar!)

Victorian cycle rack, T profile with bollard

Here is the design of the Victorian cycle rack after several back-and-forth sessions with Anthony Kirkwood at OCC as well as further consultation between 37 and 39 where the cycle rack sits in front. The design is free-standing and quite heavy, as the two vertical posts are cast iron as well as the gates. The two gates are bolted together instead of welded in order to provide 'snap points' in the event a car collides with the rack. Colour is currently spec'd as black with while reflective glass-bead paint.

We are currently waiting for final confirmation of this design from the OCC and, following a mock-up test in early September, Witney Welding Company will put the bits together.