The proposed Traffic Regulation Orders for the County’s latest proposals have been advertised in the Oxford Times today; Thursday 25th May 2017, and are also available on the Council’s consultation pages below.
Click here to view the revised proposals and have your say.
Oxfordshire County Council consulted during 2016 on proposals to remove the buses from Queen Street and various related changes in the city centre. A number of comments and objections were received in response, so the county council has now developed revised proposals which seek to address the feedback it received in the previous consultations.
The revised proposals being put forward consist of two elements:
- Experimental closure of Queen Street to buses, taxis, and private hire vehicles, for a period of 18 months from October 2017
- Permanent public transport infrastructure, pedestrian, cycle and traffic management improvements in the city centre. These improvements would remain in place whether or not Queen Street remains closed after the 18 month experimental period.
This consultation is primarily about the permanent changes and the associated Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) that are required to implement them. However, comments are also invited on the proposals for the experimental Queen Street closure, but note that you will also be able to comment on the closure at any time during the first six months of the experimental period, starting in October 2017. Comments received during this time, along with other evidence gathered, will be considered by the council before a decision is made on whether or not to make the experimental closure permanent, this will occur at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on the 18 July 2017.
Arrangements can also be made so that you can view the proposals in person at: County Hall, New Road, Oxford, OX1 1ND, between 9am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday.
Please note that the deadline for responses is 23 June 2017
Ruth is working on a response to these proposals on behalf of City Lib Dem Group. Please copy her into any comments you may have. The bus companies are not happy with some of the proposals and the removal of buses from Queen Street is of particular concern for public transport users.
I am totally opposed to the closure of Queen Street to buses. Passengers using the Pembroke Square 8/9 bus stop during the present temporary closure have to queue on the narrow pavement opposite Christ Church in the midst of the hordes of tourist who use St Aldates as their main thoroughfare to and from the city, stopping to photo Tom Tower on the way. The routing of X3 and 35 buses from Abingdon via the Plain roundabout in order to pick up passengers in St.Aldates for the return journey is crazy.
To suggest that the proposed closure benefits pedestrians and public transport users is just plain ridiculous and will make the centre of Oxford a no go area for many local people.
Many thanks for your views Sheila. I do worry about various aspects of the scheme, the removal of the buses and the re-location of the taxi rank in Cornmarket Street are two major issues. The bus drivers are unhappy because they don’t think they have enough space to turn round safely at the end of their routes so there is a lot to consider. There is currently a temporary bus stop outside the Covered Market in the High, and there is utter confusion there as in the evenings taxis park in the bus lay-by when picking up from the night club so that the buses can’t stop there easily, and in the daytime queues of tourists and other pedestrians get caught up in the bus queue. There is definitely more work needed on these proposals.