There was traffic chaos in Headington yesterday as motorists tried to grapple with the road works in the Old Road area. The level of consultation and information-giving to residents and road users appears to have been inadequate and we have complained about this on your behalf
Here is our latest information from the County officer
It is our intention to close the eastern section of Old
Road as part of the overall traffic management plan allowing the system to operate under 3-way control (and a pedestrian phase) to ease congestion in the area and specifically at the junction. This does mean that traffic, including the number 10 bus will be diverted onto adjacent routes; to the north, the diversion route is via Margaret Road and York Road, and to the south, via Titup Hall Drive and Wood Farm Road.
Currently the closure of this section of Old Road is planned for Monday next week and will continue for approx 3 weeks whilst the works are completed and new permanent traffic signals are commissioned.
There is going to be a meeting today (Tuesday) to confirm that the changes above will definitely go ahead and to review whether suitable alternative routes will work. There is a lot of concern about the safety of Wood Farm school children during this period as the traffic volume near the school will be high
We shall update you as we get more information.
I wish the bus drivers the best of luck at the Windmill Road/Margaret Road and York Road/Old Road junctions. They’re tight in a car!
Ruth,
At this stage, my concern would be to understand how the county and stagecoach are planning to route the 10 up Margaret Road and then along York Road. This is a fairly busy route, and importantly for me, the route past the Windmill School. This is a large primary school with 450 pupils and inevitably a fair amount of car, cycle and foot arrivals at 8.30-8.50 and then through the afternoon.
The corner of Margaret Road and Windmill Road can already get congested, that’s before you add a couple of buses trying to get past each other. At least the 10 drivers have experience of Osler Road they can apply…
Over 600 children under 11 visit the school each day for classroom teaching and day care so this is a real worry. The County team is meeting to discuss this and other concerns today. We’re very troubled by the seeming lack of detail of the information given out to residents and have pressed the County to update their website to reflect the timing and nature of the work
4/10 Still chasing County for meeting decision R
[…] on from Mike’s earlier comments, we asked officers to make sure there’s enough turning space into York Road from Old Road […]
The diversion for the 10 when Old Road is shut is that all buses head up Wood Farm Road to Masons’ Road and then back to The Slade via Titup Hall Drive and Wood Farm Road.