We have just received this information from the County Council.

You will all no doubt be aware the Oxfordshire Growth Board announced the Year 1 growth project allocations yesterday and A2H received the full monies asked for. The announcement came a week earlier than we were expecting, it means that the Headley Way works will be continuing as originally scoped. 

I will update you with more information when I have it but the intention will be to start the Headley Way works after Easter, an Easter start would then have the programme running to Christmas 2018 (weather permitting). We will start at the Marsh Lane roundabouts as per our original programme but the programme at the JR access will be changed as we’ve managed to do some early works in advance that should reduce the disruption there.

As before, we will be undertaking a pre-construction exhibition at a location/time TBC.

The funding announcement also allows us to reintroduce elements of the work that were removed from scope including the pedestrian crossing on London Road at the Osler Road bus gate. A plan is attached showing the proposals for your information.  The proposals differ from the originals in the following way:

• Original provision showed a toucan crossing incorporating the bus gate, after developing the design further it was determined that a controlled crossing could not be delivered safely.
• Alternatives were considered, including a zebra, which had similar safety concerns.
• The best alternative was to provide an uncontrolled crossing, incorporating a build out to shorten the crossing and providing a refuge in the middle of the road
• There remains a broad local support for pedestrian provision in this location but bus companies are understandably concerned that the changes may affect the level of bus priority they receive with this latest proposal and we’re engaging with them to mitigate their concerns.

We will be looking to start the work as soon as possible, taking advantage of the Easter holidays if at all possible. It’s envisaged that the work would take 6-8 weeks given the site constraints.  We will be publicly advertising the attached shortly and will advise of the programme of works and TM phasing once approved by network management.

We are checking that works to trees can be done at this time, bearing in mind that this is the start of the nesting season.

The following statement was sent today by one of the County Council transport planners in response to queries about the validity of the Access to Headington improvements. We display it here for the benefit of residents.

I can confirm that prior to government funding being awarded the project was subject to a full Department for Transport business case. This confirmed that the proposals would deliver significant benefits linked to reduced vehicle delay and an uptake in cycling as a result of junction improvements and new and improved cycle lanes and priority at junctions. This was reported in a paper that went to a Cabinet Member Decisions meeting in June 2016, when the scheme was also approved by the county council following an extensive period of consultation. The paper can be viewed via the following webpage. I can confirm that prior to government funding being awarded the project was subject to a full Department for Transport business case. This confirmed that the proposals would deliver significant benefits linked to reduced vehicle delay and an uptake in cycling as a result of junction improvements and new and improved cycle lanes and priority at junctions. This was reported in a paper that went to a Cabinet Member Decisions meeting in June 2016, when the scheme was also approved by the county council following an extensive period of consultation. The paper can be viewed via the following webpage

The same paper also confirmed that alternative roundabout designs were considered early in the design process for the Marston Road/Headley Way/Marsh Lane junctions. However, detailed modelling confirms that these designs would still cause large queues and delay, whereas junction modelling of the proposed signalised arrangement estimates that total vehicle delay and queuing will be significantly reduced. As a result, more of the junction’s capacity can be given over to prioritising buses through selective vehicle detection, cycle safety can be improved with the introduction of cycle pre-signals, and additional controlled crossings for pedestrians and cyclists can be installed, without having a negative impact on general traffic. 

In terms of the bus-link at Northway then this was planned for local bus services only given the roads in Northway are narrow and the route to the JR Hospital less direct than the B4495, which also serves more destinations. Furthermore, the Access to Headington aligns with the Oxford Transport Strategy (OTS), which proposes a series of projects that look to address citywide connectivity on Oxford’s orbital and radial routes, with proposed improvements on the B4495 delivering the first phase of infrastructure needed to achieve rapid transit and cycle networks as set out in the OTS. There have no changes to the OTS since Access to Headington was planned, design and consulted on which would require the scheme to be re-considered.  

The Growth Board met yesterday in closed session. Although the Access to Headington project was not referred to on the agenda, it was discussed under an item with a different portfolio name.

We understand that individual projects are not likely to be announced till the 7th February. So the planned and published Staunton Road closure may still go ahead.