Following on from the presentation by county officers at area committee, David and I have submitted proposals for local schemes to be included within the county’s LTP3 “long list” (or should this be “wishlist”?) both directly to the County and also as part of the City Council response

These include:

1. Develop a transport strategy for Headington District Centre and beyond

2. Traffic calming/reduce congestion in Highfield area

3. Traffic calming/reduce congestion in Old Headington

4. Osler Rd cycle safety measures

5. Sandfield Rd/London Rd junction improvement

6. 20 mph soft enforcement measures in Headington residential streets

7. Improve safety at Windmill Rd/London Rd junction

8. Develop cycle routes parallel to London Rd, Headington

9. Improve cycle routes between Brookes Headington and Brookes Wheatley

10. Facilitate closer working of bus companies to rationalise services

through Headington 

11. Improve bus access to/from Risinghurst

12. Upgrade bus service 10 to premium route

13. Review re-instatement of box markings on London Road

The long list will be collated from responses from members of the public and consultees in January. It will be whittled down to a shorter list at a later stage. It has been made clear to us that there will be little money available for LTP3 schemes in the next couple of years because of restrictions by the Tory administration on infrastructure spending, but we hope that one or two of the above schemes can be included in the final plan for relatively little cost.

The Tory cabinet has set down priority objectives for city schemes - if any scheme on the long list satisfies one or more of the following high priority objectives, it stands a better chance of being included within the final action plan:

• reduce congestion
• develop and increase the use of high quality, welcoming public transport
• develop and increase cycling and walking for local journeys, recreation and health

Personally speaking, I would like to have seen “measures to reduce casualties and dangers associated with travel” given high priority along with “reducing carbon emissions, improving  air quality and reducing environmental impact” from traffic. These latter objectives are considered to be ‘medium’ priority and no more by the County Cabinet, which makes decisions on transport in the city despite possessing not one single  democratically elected councillor in the whole of Oxford City.

The draft plan is due to be completed in October 2010 and will come into effect from 2011-2030

A number of residents have asked us when the new 20 mph speed limits will come into operation. Our latest news from the County is as follows:

We’re anticipating the speed limit will come into effect in late August / early September but have yet to confirm the exact date (as you can appreciate, there is a lot of signing work) - the contractor is making very good progress with installing the poles, and we expect the signs themselves to be installed in the latter half of August.

Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday evening’s surgery, Altaf and Ruth enjoyed meeting you and discussing your concerns

These included issues around road signage, parking, ways to improve traffic junctions, hazardous traffic light sequencing at the Windmill Road/London Road junction, a county council legal matter, damage to pavements by refuse collection lorries, proposed Ruskin developments, sewage and drainage problems, and the lack of cycle track along London Road

It’s good to hear that so many residents enjoy living in Laurel Farm Close

We shall update residents as we make progress with their issues

We have been contacted by a resident who cycles along Pullens Lane who is concerned about the London Road improvements.  He contacted us to say that the junction with Pullens Lane has an obstructively high kerbstone and this is dangerous to those riding bikes, and particularly so for those riding trailer-bikes as the cyclist has to dismount to negotiate the junction between London Road and Pullens Lane safely.  We have contacted the County Officer concerned and here is his reply:

In the short term a fillet will be placed on the road to remove the vertical face on the kerb.

A change will be made to the kerb line but the inclined face was a requirement of the scheme.

We are discussing what further action we can press for with County Councillor Altaf Khan

Lib Dems believe removing bus stops from Queen Street without reducing buses makes no sense

Liberal Democrats have “called in” a decision by the county council cabinet member for transport to initiate an expensive short-term programme of changes to Queen Street in central Oxford. Said Lib Dem shadow cabinet member for transport Cllr Roz Smith: “Moving the bus stops out of Queen Street, without reducing the number of buses, will increase congestion on St Aldates and the High Street. It will also severely worsen the air quality in St Aldates, High Street and surrounding streets where there are many residents and even more full-time workers.”

Cllr Smith added: “Pedestrians in Queen Street will still have all the disadvantages of having buses in the street, but without the advantage of being able to actually get on them. An interim surfacing scheme, to be replaced with a new surface when Queen Street is fully pedestrianised, is a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

The matter will now be considered by the Environment & Economy Scrutiny committee of the county council at a meeting on Tuesday 5th May, starting at 2.00 p.m. in county hall. This meeting is open to the public, and members of the public may ask to address the committee.

In theory, members of scrutiny committees exercise their analytical skills impartially, in the interests of all the citizens of Oxfordshire, including those living in and visiting Oxford City. As with Select Committees in the Houses of Parliament, Party considerations are not supposed to determine the recommendations of scrutiny committees. It will be interesting to see whether any Conservative members of the committee break ranks and respond to the outcry among many groups, and vote to alter the decision of their cabinet member.

Please see information attached that relates to a Temporary Speed Restriction for the London Road, Headington, commencing 20 April 2009 and lasting for 5 weeks.  This will be introduced while carriageway resurfacing works take place.

Leon Jolly from Enterprise Mouchel confirmed the following locations and estimated timeframes for delivery.

Phase 1: 19 Apr - 30 April, Headington Campus to Gipsy Lane
Phase 2: 1 May - 12 May, Gipsy Lane to Headley Way
Phase 3: 13 May - 22 May, Headley Way - Osler Road

It’s not clear from the information that we have received what this temporary speed restriction will be in terms of miles per hour, but it’s pretty unlikely that it will be breached given our experiences of the last few weeks

Oxford’s bus companies want to work together to eliminate the need for buses in Oxford’s Queen Street

Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council Lib Dems want plans to remove bus stops from Queen Street in central Oxford later in 2009, to be delayed, and bus company proposals to reduce the total number of buses in the centre of the city, to be brought in first.

Cllr Roz Smith, Shadow Cabinet member for Transport, said: “The Liberal Democrats have long been calling for improvements in Oxford city centre to help both pedestrians and bus users. But the Conservatives’ half-way house for Queen Street is just not the way to do it. The idea that the bus stops can be removed but not the buses doesn’t make sense. People will have all the disadvantages - and potential dangers - of having buses mingling with pedestrians, but none of the advantages of being able to actually get on a bus.

“Instead we will just get more congestion and air pollution in St Aldates immediately, and we know that the bus stops removed from Queen Street will eventually be moved again in later phases of the Transform Oxford scheme. In addition, re-surfacing Queen Street now, only to resurface it again in a year or two when the buses are finally relocated fully, is an outrageous waste of taxpayers’ money.”

Cllr Zoé Patrick, Leader of the county council Liberal Democrats added, “‘The Conservatives say they want to work with the bus companies but show little sign of rolling up their sleeves and getting on with it. Instead of complaining about the bus companies, they should be sitting down with them to create a proper partnership. This will enable joint timetabling and joint ticketing, and hopefully then reduce the number of half-empty buses coming into the centre. And this will then make room on the other roads to remove buses completely from Queen Street and allow it to be properly pedestrianised.

“This Partnership needs to be set up urgently now. The aims of ‘Transform Oxford’ cannot be delivered until the bus companies can work together. I am surprised at the slowness of the County Council in doing this.”

Note:

The 2008 Local Transport Act allows bus companies to discuss routes and introduce joint ticketing, without being accused of running a cartel, but only if the Transport Authority - in this case the County Council - is involved in the process, acting as “honest broker”, in what is called a Bus Quality Partnership.

It was good to see so many people at the exhibition on Saturday morning! If you haven’t yet seen the County Council’s plans for upgrading the London Road, please click on this link

If you haven’t yet submitted comments/feedback on the new scheme, please do so online here

Please note: you will need to click on Next to complete the feedback form.  David and I are very keen that everyone fills this in.  Among the concerns that were brought to my attention on Saturday were the lack of attention given to cyclists, the narrowing of Old High Street at its junction with London Road in respect of the advent of Waitrose, safety concerns about the London Road/Windmill Road junction, and the removal of the subway at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds.  People were also concerned about the lack of planting in London Road

Headington residents will have noticed that the crossing introduced next to Osler Road was removed today. It’s not a surprise: the crossing was always intended to be temporary, to be there during the roadworks further up on London Road. But was perhaps a surprise to those at the County who put it there was the popularity of the crossing. Ruth and I have certainly had several messages saying how pleased local people have been with a crossing that links the road to the Manor Surgery with New High Street and the district centre.

It begs the question: would people like to see it stay? I believe London Road deserves another crossing and it seems to me that the logical place is where this crossing was placed, helping to link the shops on the corner of Osler Road in with the rest of the district centre. What do you think?

The whole issue is, of course, tied up with plans for the ‘improvements’ to London Road. The suggestion is to close the underpass (the one local residents painted 7 years ago) and to replace it with a crossing at the same spot. But wouldn’t it be better to have a crossing AND an underpass? It doesn’t have to be ‘either / or’, it could be ‘win / win’.

Ruth and I, as your local councillors, are sending out a survey to you on the next phase of the London Road development, including questions on the issue of crossing. Please do let us know your opinions.  If you would like to see the e-copy please click on

london-road-survey-0903.pdf

The Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach share many of the objectives of Oxfordshire County Council’s Transform Oxford vision, but do not agree with their proposals for how the bus network should serve the city. Their joint proposal can be found at this site

The Lib Dems have conducted an on-line survey associated with our county and city group websites. We now have over 100 responses. The participants are of course anonymous, and no claims can be made that they represent a balanced cross-section of the population. However, there is also no sign that any individuals or groups have tried to influence the results in any direction - there has been a constant flow of a few a day.

County Cllr Ian Hudspeth  mentioned at Central South & West Area Committee that he had received a couple of hundred feedback forms as a result of the consultations to date. Here are the (unedited) results of our survey and thank you to everyone who took part from the Headington Ward

Q1, Do you feel that more pedestrianisation of central Oxford would attract you to visit more often?

Yes, definitely - 3%

Probably - 34%

It depends on other factors - 30%

Probably not - 31%

No - 2%

Q2, Which streets do you feel would benefit most from being pedestrianised?

Broad St - 3%

George St - 10%

Queen St - 19%

Turl St - 15%

New Inn Hall St - 19%

Magdalen St/Magdalen St East - 20%

Beaumont St - 14%

High St - 0%

Q3, If you travel from East Oxford, would you find it acceptable if you always had to change buses at the Plain?

Yes - 1%

No - 98%

Don’t know - 1%

Q4, Do you feel that the number of buses on the High St is ….

Far too many - 2%

Too many - 49%

About right - 47%

As many as there need to be - 2%

Q5, Do you feel that the traffic lights outside Debenhams (Cornmarket/George St junction) make it safer for pedestrians?

Yes - 2%

No - 97%

Don’t Know - 1%

Q6 - Any other suggestions for improving things for pedestrians in central Oxford?

Plan not joined up - needs of cyclists being ignored.

Pembroke St should be considered for pedestrianisation.

Broad St has great potential - introduce continental style cafes and places to lounge around.

Frideswide Square is a mess for both traffic and pedestrians - this needs special consideration.

Traffic on High St and St Aldate’s should be slowed right down, and pedestrians allowed to use road space.

Bus routes need to be rationalised - more needed between Park & Rides/station and residential areas.

Pedestrianisation is a mad idea - reopen Cornmarket and George St to through traffic.

There isn’t enough in central Oxford to make pedestrianisation worthwhile.

People are to be asked for their views on where 20mph speed limits
should go in Oxford as the county council starts a consultation
exercise on February 12.

In Autumn 2008, the people of Oxford were asked what they thought
about the idea of introducing 20mph speed limits in the city.
Two-thirds of people who responded were positive about the idea.

The county council now wants to know what people think of the detailed
plans in terms of which roads are to be included in the proposal and
which should remain excluded.

WHERE COULD LIMITS BE INTRODUCED?
The proposals recommend that 20mph limits could be introduced in 2009 on:

Minor roads within the city including outlying areas such as Sandhills
Un-numbered through roads except where they are part of heavily-used
bus routes into the city, for example the section of Blackbird Leys
Road (north west of Balfour Road) and Barns Road (except for the
section immediately adjoining Between Towns Road), and Old Abingdon
Road
Some sections of the main A roads and the B road network where there
are busy shopping areas, for example the London Road through Oxford
Brookes University/Headington and on parts of the B4495 through Temple
Cowley

EXISTING 20 MPH ZONES
There are already a number of 20mph zones and limits in Oxford and
these would be incorporated into the wider project. The area of the
city centre that would be covered by the 20mph limit would be expanded
significantly.

HOW WOULD MAIN ROADS BE AFFECTED?
Radial routes such as:

Abingdon Road
Banbury Road (either side of Summertown)
Woodstock Road
Botley Road beyond Abbey Road
London Road either side of Brookes/Headington Shops
Iffley Road beyond Temple Street

would NOT be included.

Routes around the city such as:

the ring road
Oxpens Road/Thames Street
Marston Ferry Road
Donnington Bridge Road

would also NOT be part of the limit.
The Botley, Cumnor and North Hinksey areas will NOT be part of any
20mph plans with people from those areas having already stated that
they do not want to be part of the proposal.

BENEFITS
The introduction of 20mph speed limits, which are designed to be
self-enforcing, can reduce accident levels, especially when associated
with traffic-calming measures. The 20mph limit would encourage more
walking and cycle trips and bring associated health benefits.

HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY
Consultation officially begins on February 12 and runs until March 5 .
You can find out more and have your say by:

Going to your local library in Oxford, viewing information about the
plans and filling in a response form. Participating libraries are
Blackbird Leys Cowley, Headington, Central Oxford and Summertown. The
same information will be available at receptions in County Hall and
the county council’s Speedwell Street headquarters.
Visiting Oxfordshire County Council’s website at
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/20limits and filling in the same form.
Writing to the county council at Oxfordshire County Council, 20 Limit
Consultation, Speedwell House, Speedwell Street, FREEPOST OF260,
Oxford, OX1 1BR .
Emailing 20@oxfordshire.gov.uk

There is now a Frequently Asked Questions page on the County website with an exceedingly long web address.  Please click on this link for a short cut!

Elderly residents have been talking to David and me about the Octabus Dial-a-Ride service that operates with a subsidy from the County Council. Here is a link to a leaflet which will tell you more about this service.

It is operated by Walter’s Limousines out of Forest Hill, it costs £3 for membership (which includes vouchers for two free single journeys) and it’s a door-to-door service for those who are unable to use, or find it difficult to use, public transport due to disability or infirmity.  Those with concessionary bus passes travel free, and so do their escorts, but you’re not allowed to use it for journeys to the hospital or to a County Council-run social centre - that’s because there are other transport schemes to cover this.

Do contact David or me if you experience any difficulties in ordering journeys as we want to monitor how over-subscribed this service is getting

Please click here to see the County Council’s plans to pedestrianise the centre of Oxford

I went to a briefing on this tonight. I get the impression that very few people have been consulted. This is

a vision, not a solid immutable blueprint (Keith Mitchell).

Their view of the City Centre is that there are too many buses, dirty
cluttered streets, and poor quality pavement materials

The exemplar of good practice they want to aspire to is the Castle redevelopment

They are aiming for:

• more pedestrianisation
• low-emission buses (trams are too expensive)
• optical registration of bus routes
• significantly reduced no. buses but the same no. passenger journeys
• smartcard bus ticketing
• cleaner streets
• better pavement materials

The buses from East Oxford via Cowley Road/Iffley Road/St
Clements/Marston Road will turn round at the Plain - that’s the
current thinking. But they will think about extending the route for
through buses from further out if this is not possible. From St
Clements? From Gipsy Lane? From London Road roundabout? From Park
and Ride? That’s all up for debate and the bus companies will have a
big role in sorting this out. But at present they are assuming the
buses from our end of Oxford will turn round at the Plain and will not
diminish in frequency. People will then change onto buses that run through the City Centre

Buses from North Oxford will turn round at a strange new turning place by
the Ashmolean short of the Martyrs’ Memorial, councillors are concerned
this will upset St John’s College

Mr Hugh-Jones (Env/Econ) mentioned talks starting about running a bus service
between Thornhill, the hospitals, and Peartree.

A bendy bus had been superimposed on the presentation slides, it resembled an airport bus for people to stand in, with very few seats. “What about the elderly? What about
people with luggage?” we exclaimed! But the type of bus has not been decided upon yet

Ian Hudspeth and Keith Mitchell seem to think the scheme frees up the options for London buses to depart from other areas of the City. I pointed out that 25%
Tube passengers get on the coach between the Plain and London Road
roundabout, that many Headington residents have bought houses here in
order to access the London buses, and that proprietors of bed and
breakfast accommodation and hotels in Headington had acquired premises
precisely because they were on the main route to London.
I pointed out that the bus companies would be hard to persuade that
their established routes should be changed as they stood to lose a lot
of money, at least initially.

They want to pedestrianise Broad Street and pave it with high quality
materials funded from developer money! (from where? Where can they
develop Broad St.?)

They have no budget for this at present. They are interested in
getting money from the Transport Innovations Fund and they think
they’d be successful, although this would not be enough

Bus stops would move from Queen St to Castle St. and New Road

They will do an audit of cycle racks, then decide where to site new
ones. Lots of concern about the need for cycle routes - The Plain may
become a death trap for cyclists? They would like a rent-a bike scheme as in Barcelona

Phase 1 is putting a non-stopping bus lane down the middle of Queen St
with pedestrian walkways either side.

The plans for consultation are not yet firmed up, but residents will be able to give their views via the County Council. There’s a lot to sort out before plans get as far as that!

Today is the last date for residents to send in their views on introducing 20 mph speed limits to the County Council.  If you have not yet sent in your comments, please do so by downloading and completing the feedback form on the County’s website

We know there is a lot of concern from residents about cycling in Headington.  Pedestrians tell us that they experience near misses or are bumped into by cyclists on pavements. Cyclists say they experience near misses or are forced off road by buses. Car drivers tell us that cyclists swerve in front of them without using arm signals. 

The neighbourhood police have been stopping cyclists who ride on the pavements and ask them why they are doing it, and the answer is frequently “because I don’t feel safe cycling on the road”.  Many of these cyclists are adults, not children.  We need to come up with some good ideas about how to improve all this, before there are any more accidents.  At a recent Neighbourhood Action Group meeting some suggestions included:

• impose on the spot fines for people who cycle on pavements

• stop those cycling on pavements and give them a warning first time round, if they are stopped again, send them on a compulsory cycling proficiency training course

• enforce the law that cycle lanes should be used only by cyclists and not by cars - this would make cyclists feel safer

• devise cycle routes that take cyclists off the main roads and give a map of these routes and a warning to those who cycle on pavements

• put up signs instructing cyclists to dismount where traffic junctions are particularly dangerous

We have asked for this topic to be raised at a forthcoming North East Area Committee meeting.  There are two questions that must be asked of the County:

1. Why isn’t there a Cycling Officer for Oxfordshire?

2. Why isn’t there an up to date County strategy on cycling?

If you have any ideas or suggestions, we would welcome them!

David and I had a meeting with Martin Sutton from Stagecoach yesterday evening where we aired the issues you wanted to raise  relating to bus services in Headington. Here’s our report back to you.

• Buses from Headington to Summertown

Many of you have raised the issue of there not being a direct bus to and from Summertown. We have raised this, in particular suggesting a direct route, without going through the city centre, which would also have the advantaged of helping the residents on the top half of Headley Way to have a bus service again. Martin Sutton told us they have looked into this before and gave a guarantee that Stagecoach would look at this again.

In discussing this and other issues, he clarified some of the economics as Stagecoach see them. They calculate that each bus on the road costs c£180K a year to run, this equates to c£38 per hour, though clearly different types of buses incur different costs. They take as the key indicator for performance is the “average operating speed” of the bus - the higher this is, the higher the cost of the service. The average operating speed of the bus should ideally be between 12 and 18 mph. The average operating speed of the no. 10 has been recorded as low as 8 mph but its usage has improved since the service became more frequent.

• No 10 bus route

On this, it’s fair to say, there was not a meeting of minds. We explained our long-held concerns about buses going down Osler Rd, causing problems for residents and cyclists, while Headley Way, where residents need a bus, goes unserved. Martin said that previous figures had suggested very few people got on a bus on Headley Way, while taking the bus into the JR by Osler Rd was seen as essential to that service (even though, in our experience, very few people actually use that particular stretch). We’ve heard all that before but what we did get was an agreement that we will be provided with the passenger statistics for this (and other) routes. We have asked for ‘before and after’ figures with reference to the introduction of the National Bus Pass scheme. Residents have also told us that weekend U10 buses on the section from Headley Way to the JR are underused.

• London buses through Headington

This is a contentious issue locally: some residents have expressed the view that London buses should be re-routed so that they do not run through Headington; others are equally adamant that this bus service is one of the reasons to live in the area. We asked for information about the importance to Stagecoach of having a Headington stop. The latest figures suggest that nearly a quarter of passengers get on the London-bound Oxford Tube between St Clements and London Road  (60% of  passengers have boarded by the time buses reach the Plain, and 83% of passengers have boarded by the time buses reach the London Road roundabout). Clearly, the bus companies would be very reluctant to re-route their buses away from Headington.  What we need to focus on is making sure that they don’t block up the roads, as they sometimes do with the present road layout and some selfish parking by van-drivers.

• Bays on London Road

Our residents in Windmill Road had asked if the designated bus and taxi parking lanes could be swapped over to make it easier for buses to pull in next to Iceland without having to overtake vehicles. Martin is going to consult his staff about this. This was a helpful meeting for all of us, and we hope to meet again for further discussion.

• Other useful information

The bus company currently appealing the sum reimbursed to it by the City Council for passengers who are travelling with concessionary passes as part of the National Bus Pass scheme. If the rate of reimbursement is low, there is little incentive for bus companies to extend services in areas where there is a higher percentage of older passengers who use this scheme.

It is possible for bus companies to change routes and times of services providing they give 56 days’ notice to the County Council. It is possible for the County Council to write a condition into a contract for a subsidised route that can enforce two bus companies to tender fares in such a way that a joint ticket scheme can be administered, but problems can arise if the contracts for each of the two companies have separate expiry dates or if the ticket machines on the buses are not of a similar type.

In conclusion, the meeting provided a useful discussion and some helpful information. More importantly, it is part of an on-going dialogue where Stagecoach is left in no doubt of local feeling. We will work to make sure this achieves improvements for local residents over the longer term.

We have a meeting with Martin Sutton of Stagecoach on Wednesday evening and we are hoping to raise a number of issues that have been reported to us by residents in our ward. If you have any specific concerns, please contact us (see left hand toolbar for details)

Issues so far include:

the number 10 service - change of route from Headley Way to Osler Road, whether some services should turn round at Cowley Centre, safety of cyclists and other road users in Osler Road and the lack of space for queuing at the Windmill Road bus stop (the latter is not an easy problem to solve);

the frequency of Brookes buses at weekends and in vacation;

the possible issue of joint-provider scholars’ tickets;

the resurrection of a through service from Headington to Summertown;

a possible switch of designated taxi and bus spaces outside Iceland

and more..

All views welcomed, including positive comments - I know some people have said how pleased they are with the buggy-friendly and disabled-friendly service provided by Stagecoach and we will make sure to mention this!

Residents may like to see the Oxford Mail coverage of our endeavours to get the crossing lights repaired in London Road, which was featured in our earlier post.

David and I would like to thank the Oxford Mail for helping us resolve this long-running issue, and also say a big thank you to Len and Audrey and Mrs Cox for assisting with our photo-shoot.

Here’s a tale of how public concern — and the press — can have a positive effect. Those of you who are attentive readers — or who are residents of the area around the London Road — will know about the problems with the traffic lights near Latimer Road. As previously reported, they have not been working for some time, making it really difficult for elderly residents to get about at all. My hyper-energetic colleague, Ruth, has been dealing with the issue but we’ve been so frustrated with the response that we called the Oxford Mail and arranged a photo-shoot for this morning.

I was up there and met the redoubtable Len of Latimer Grange, as well as Mrs Cox of McMaster House. While we were waiting for the photographer, I noticed the County workmen getting busy and trying to switch on the lights. That failed but I talked to the officer (Mike Best who lives up to his surname: thanks for your work on this one) and he arranged for a contractor to come as soon as possible. In fact, that meant just after the photographer had left. Dave, the contractor, found that the wrong fuse had been put in — a 6 amp rather than a 16 amp — replaced it, and now, at last, the lights are working again.

I do wonder how long it would have taken to get these lights going again if it hadn’t been for Ruth and my contacting the press and their agreeing to run a story. That, plus being able to talk to an officer on site. We will not know for sure but I’d like to think that the fact that local residents were willing to be in the paper helped get this sorted out in the end. The tale is a sad one of buck-passing between a privatised utility and the County Council but, to give them their due, the County officers and contractors on the ground did a sterling job, giving the tale a happy ending: thank you.

Considering the mail-bags both Ruth and I receive, transport issues are high up on the list of the concerns of residents in Headington. This was also borne out by the well-attended meeting on residents’ parking in New Headington last Wednesday, at which a County officer helpfully attended.

But, as that officer said, ‘it’s councillors who make the decisions.’ In which case, we should all be directing our questions, comments and complaints to the relevant County Councillor responsible for our highways. And you can do just that this coming Tuesday, 16th September, when the grandly-titled Cabinet Member for Transport (the Tories like grand titles) comes to St Andrew’s School for the North East Area Committee, which begins at 6pm. We hope to see you there!

Following our street surgery in St Anne’s Road, we have reported residents’ concerns about near misses due from the traffic light sequencing to the County’s Safety Officer. Here is his reply:

As you will be aware, the changes to the traffic light phasing here were introduced in late 2007 to help improve traffic flows. We have been monitoring safety here very closely, and although there have been two reported accidents (one resulting in serious injury to an elderly pedestrian, and one resulting in slight injury to a pedal cyclist) neither appear to have been in any way related to the changes. It is nevertheless worrying to hear about the recent incidents; we are now working on the next phase of the London Road project covering the length between Osler Road and Wharton Road, and one objective will be to make the shopping area as friendly a place as possible for pedestrians, and an important part of this will be trying to achieve consistently low speeds on the approach to , and through the junction. We hope to consult on the proposals in the spring 2009, which will be an opportunity for all users to express their views and help shape the scheme.

Right. Where to start?

My latest information is that the controller that makes the crossing lights work was replaced last week and a call was put through to the utilities company to come and turn the power back on.

Unfortunately the utilities company now says it has no record of the call being made. A subsequent call has definitely been logged and the electricity company has indicated that employees will be on site today (or Wednesday at the latest) to sort this out.

Mike Collins, the Project Manager at the County end, is going to make a site visit this afternoon to ensure that work is progressing and to monitor what is going on.

We know that this is causing great inconvenience for everyone, particularly the elderly people living in Latimer Road who are unable to cross the road and get the bus to the doctor’s, the shops and church, and I assure you that David, Gail, Altaf and I are doing all we can to get this resolved as quickly as possible

I’m considering chaining myself to the crossing signal post tomorrow and dragging in the Oxford Mail photographer for a photo shoot if these signals aren’t up and running by the time I finish work, I may call on elderly residents to join me. Watch this space.

Bad news everyone, this is the latest news relayed to me by the County re crossing signals at London Road/Latimer Road junction

The signal equipment has been repaired but to carry out the repair the
electrical supply had to be isolated (cut off). It is my understanding
that we are awaiting the electrical company to come out and reconnect
the supply. They had indicated that they would be out on Wednesday but
failed to show up.

Your City Councillors and County Councillors are pressing for urgent action to ensure the crossing lights are up and running without further delay

Public consultation on Oxford’s CORE STRATEGY (2026)

A series of public meetings will take place in Oxford for people to attend and register their point of view with the county council. Please see the County Council’s website for details of public meetings on this issue, and how to send in your views and comments electronically.

Local organisations will be contacted for their comments by the County. If you wish to air your views on this issue, then please come to the next North east Area Committee meeting on Tuesday 16 September at St. Andrew’s Primary School at 6 p.m.

Residents have asked about the extended bus service to Cherwell School which was expected to start in September. I have received confirmation from the County that this is going ahead and will start on Monday. Here is the email:

I can confirm the minor change to 700 that has been agreed with R H Transport, will take place as from Monday 1st September 2008

The existing 700 journey that currently leaves the J.R. Hospital at 08.05 and operates via Marsh Lane and the Northern By-Pass (i.e. the peak hour anti-flow route) will instead, from Monday, operate via Cherwell Drive and Marston Ferry Road (i.e. the normal daytime route). This will be just this one journey via this route at this time; the next Marston Ferry Road and Summertown routed journey is not then scheduled until 09.05.

Separate discussions are ongoing about a further extension of 700 to/from Churchill Hospital via Headington (London Road) and I suspect that the company was confused by this reference - hence the negative reply. The diverted 08.05 bus will, of course, still start from the J. R. Hospital bus terminus as now.

The company do offer a 10 jny multi-ride card (12 trips for the price of 10). Journeys are then cancelled as a when undertaken. The last 700 in the afternoon calls at the school at about 15.20 so later children will have to return on the Stagecoach 14 service in any case.

The signals have gone down at Gipsy Lane and there is currently no pedestrian crossing signal in operation near the junction of Latimer Road and London Road because of damage to an underground cable.

The County Council has called in the signals company to investigate the fault, and unfortunately repairs cannot be carried out until next Wednesday 3 September.

David and I have asked that this work is given highest priority.

The Department for Transport’s annual road statistics have been published this month. They show that traffic has increased by 14% and that there are now 7,000 more roads since Labour came to power.

The statistics also show that HGVs have increased by 9.4% since 1997, and that 82% of them break the 50 mph speed limit on non built-up dual carriageways.

In the last fortnight, Ruth Kelly announced yet another £6bn to widen motorways.

Speaking in 1997, John Prescott said: “I will have failed if in five years’ time there are not many more people using public transport and far fewer journeys by car. It’s a tall order but I urge you to hold me to it.”

David and I have been invited to discuss local Stagecoach bus service issues with the managing director of Stagecoach in Oxfordshire.

Do get in touch with us with any issues, suggestions for improvements, or problems with bus services, and we will include these in the discussion.  Please add your comments to this post, or contact us directly - our contact details can be found by clicking the Contact us link on the left hand bar.

I am also contacting all residents’ associations in the ward to ask for their views.

The re-routing of the no. 10 service from Headley Way to Osler Road will be on our agenda.

At the Central and N Headington Residents’ Association meeting, a local resident asked me to investigate Stagecoach’s policy on family friendly fares. Here is their response.

 “We are very keen to attract families and therefore offer group/family fares on all our services.  An Oxford adult Dayrider ticket costs £3.50 for unlimited number of journeys for up to 24 hours.  The family version costs £6.50 for up two two adults and three children.   To put this into context at day return to the city centre from Blackbird Leys in £2.80 for an adult and £1.40 for a child.  We offer rduced rate passes for travel to.from schools and colleges and, to encourage wider use by young people, last summer we extended their validity to allow travel at weekends and duting school holidays.  On Oxford Tube, children travel free when accompanied by an adult.  We are mindful of the requirements of families and are working on a number of other ideas an initiatives to make our services as “family friendly” as possible. “

Further to our earlier post about the Oxford Bus Company bus routes through the City, I now have a response from Stagecoach to share with Headington residents, as follows:

“We split the direct service between Headington and Kidlington last in April last year, principally because it was impossible to run it reliably through the city centre. If delays occurred on one leg of the route, they would inevitably have an impact on the other. the effect of the Green Road roundabout reconstruction was disasterous for reliability, and, in the knowledge that other schemes were on the horizon, we decided that the only option was to split the service in two. Whilst I realise that this has caused inconvenience to many people and regret this, there is little prospect of restablishing the though service.

There are major road works schemes on both London Road and through Summertown at present together with work in St Aldates. The Westgate development, when it goes ahead, will cause further disruption to services. I regret to say that, whilst I would not rule out the prospect of a return to a through service at some point in the future, there is little prospect for one at present. “

I recently received an email from Manager Stefan Soanes of the Oxford Bus Company concerning an issue raised by a Headington resident about the difficulties faced by elderly people and those with mild mobility problems who find it awkward to transfer buses in the City Centre when travelling from Headington to Summertown.

I’ll post this reply up because it explains the rationale behind the move to split the former no. 2 route, and because it is interesting to note the statistics that he quotes:

“Traditionally the service from Barton/Headington to Oxford was linked to
the service that operated between Oxford and Kidlington, which was
numbered 2 and provided a through service from the North to the
Headington/Barton area.

The pedestrianisation of Cornmarket Street meant this service no longer
had the direct path through Oxford city centre to get from the High
Street to St Giles. Instead, the service made it’s way around the bus
priority system to the south and west of the centre before heading
north. This added additional time and mileage into the service.

I am sure you do not need me to tell you about the traffic congestion
leaving Oxford along the London Road through Headington. This increased
to the point that we could no longer operate a reliable service between
Oxford and Headington/Barton. However, the knock on effect was that the
‘linked’ part of the service to the North of the city would also be
adversely affected.

The route from Kidlington to Barton traveled through many traffic
hotspots and we were faced with the need to add more resources to the
route just to stand still and combat such traffic congestion.

Therefore, in order to operate as reliable service as we possibly can to
both areas the decision was taken to curtail both services in the city
centre with no through facility. We did not take this decision lightly;
survey work prior to the change found only 6% of passengers made the
through journey.

The outcome of this is that the residents of both Headington and North
Oxford have a more reliable bus service as congestion on one leg does
not affect the other service. Indeed the service 7 was curtailed in the
same way due to a further worsening of congestion since our service 2
was split.

I think as with most things, changes will affect some more than others.
It could be said that the benefits of having a reliable bus service for
94% of our passengers outweigh the fact that there is no through service
for the other 6%. However if there is a social need for public
transport that cannot be provided by commercial operation, the County
Council is empowered under the 1986 Transport Act to offer a tender for
such a service. It may therefore be worth approaching Allan Field at
the County as to whether this could be viable. ”

All comments welcome, just press the Comment? button above….

I have proposed the following amendment to the core strategy for discussion at full Council tomorrow, and thought I should explain a little about why I’ve done it. The amendment is:

I would like to propose that the following paragraph is inserted into the document just above Policy CS16

“Some existing residential areas currently have poor or infrequent public transport accessibility to key local services (such as a District centre), relative to other parts of Oxford. The City Council will work with its partners to improve bus services to such areas, particularly where this will support regeneration or social inclusion.”

There is already some mention of improving bus links between the proposed district centres, and this will strengthen our case for improving bus links between Headington and Summertown. However, having served on the North East Area Committee and having canvassed across the North East of the city, I recognise that areas like Risinghurst get a poor deal when it comes to bus services in the evenings and at weekends.

Another reason for proposing this amendment is to make sure that areas like Iffley, with a high percentage of elderly residents, stand a chance of getting a regular bus service out of the village. It will also help estates like Rose Hill get a regular bus service to its local primary district centre Templars Square - the new district centres will offer employment, amenities and shops so it’s important that residents in outlying estates with high levels of socio-economic deprivation have public transport to these key local services.

The Site Agent for Oxfordshire Highways has contacted residents living near the London Road to let them know the schedule for roadworks. I thought it would be useful to reproduce this information below.

North side from Pullens Lane to Headley Way 21 July - 20 October 2008

• diversion of underground services
• carriageway widening
• drainage works
• reconstruction and re-paving of the footways
• installation of new traffic signs

North side from Headley Way to Osler Road 21 July - 13 October 2008

• diversion of underground services

North side from Headley Way to Osler Road 18 August - 17 November 2008

• carriageway widening
• drainage works
• resonstruction and re-paving of the footways
• installation of new traffic signs
• preparation work for changes to traffic signals

South side from Brookside to opposite Pullens Lane 20 October - 11 December 2008

• diversion of underground services
• carriageway widening
• drainage works
• reconstruction and re-paving of the footways
• installation of new traffic signs
• preparation work for changes to traffic signals

South side from New High Street to Brookside 17 November - 19 Jan 2009

• diversion of underground services
• carriageway widening
• drainage works
• reconstruction and re-paving of the footways
• installation of new traffic signs
• preparation work for changes to traffic signals

Oxford Brookes University public space area 18 December - 13 January 2009

• installation of new kerbing
• drainage works
• installation of high quality paving materials on the footways
• re-positioning and upgrading of the Pelican crossing outside the Gipsy Lane Campus
• installation of new traffic signs

Headley Way to Osler Road 19 January - 9 February 2009

• installation of traffic lights and pedestrian islands
• re-surfacing of the road
• installation of new road markings

Pullens Lane to Headley Way 26 January - 23 February 2009

• installation of traffic lights and pedestrian islands
• re-surfacing of the road
• installation of new road markings

Regular scheme updates will be posted on the County Council’s website

The Oxfordshire Highways Enquiry Line is 0845 310 1111

I have just been informed of the following improvement brought about by successful lobbying of the County Council by the parent of a Cherwell student who lives in Headington.

RH Transport, who run the 700 between the JR and Water Eaton have agreed to run the 0805 service from the JR via Summertown, i.e. along Marston Ferry Road, to reach Cherwell by 0820. This should help those pupils who come from Headington and Marston to Cherwell. Until now that service has used the ring road instead to avoid congestion – but this should not be such a problem in that direction at that time.

The County Council says it will carry out regular reviews of residents’ parking zones. One has just been completed in West Oxford.

Isn’t it time that our RPZs were reviewed in Headington? That’s what residents in New Headington are telling David and me.

We shall be working with residents’ associations to push for action on this.

Why should residents have to pay to park their cars outside their own homes?

Why are some zones 24/7? Is this unfair for residents living in busy areas?

Why should residents in 24/7 areas have to pay for passes for every visitor to their homes?

Tell us what you think!

At a meeting of stakeholders this morning at Cheney School, many people expressed frustration that developer money still had not been spent to improve cycling routes in this area.

There was widespread support for a 20 mph speed limit on Old Road, possibly enforced by a time over distance speed camera.

Another suggestion was made to remove the central white line from the middle of the road which reduces the sense of certainty that encourages drivers to speed.

Everyone wanted to support Cheney School’s cycling to school policy.

The suggestion to put in speed cushions or raised tables was not so popular.

Another suggestion was to enable cyclists to bypass the queue at Windmill Road junction by using a cycle track painted on the footway which would drop away to the advanced stop line marked on the road.

County officers were asked to look into ways of obtaining extra funding for improvements along this busy stretch of road which serves the Churchill Hospital, Cheney School, the University of Oxford, and Oxford Brookes University.

I learned today that there is a telephone number for residents to ring if they want an enforcement officer to check on cars parking without permits in residents’ parking zones.

The company’s name is APCOA and the number to ring is:

01865 793147