Windmill Road latest

Here’s the action we’ve taken on issues raised by residents:

  • pavement defects near the Sue Ryder shop will be made good inside 24 hours
  • overhanging vegetation at 34 will be cut back within 28 days
  • owners of bins left out on pavements will receive advice from the Community Support Officer

Here are the latest speeding stats in Windmill Road from Thames Valley Police

3 speeding operations have been carried out in the 30mph section with the following results:

18/07/2014 1900-2000 hours – out of 197 cars 3 were travelling over 30mph

09/08/2014 1400-1500 hours – out of 224 cars 4 were travelling over 30mph

29/10/2014 0830-0930 hours – out of 86 cars 0 were travelling over 30mph.

Therefore out of the 507 cars that were monitored, only 7 were over 30mph (the fastest going at 38mph (5mph over the speed a ticket could be given at)). As a percentage only 1.38% of cars were speeding, and then not excessively.

The accident data shows there were 2 accidents in Windmill road in 2013 which resulted in injury. One accident was caused by a car pulling out of a junction and hitting a cyclist. The other was a car wing mirror clipping a cyclist. In both cases speed was not a contributing factor. The Police only record accident data where there is an injury caused.

In 2011 Speed data was captured over a 24 hour period using one of the black boxes. This showed the average speed over a 24 hour period was 23.1 miles per hour and when looking at the 85th percentile, the average speed was 29.6. It is the 85th percentile that tends to be looked at when deciding if a there is a problem or not. As this is still within the 30mph limit, then the data shows there is not a speeding problem on Windmill road that requires further resources in relation to increasing road safety.

Headington Transport Strategy Development consultation – response from Headington Ward Councillors

The following response was sent to the County Council as part of the consultation and is reproduced in full

 

As City Councillors for Headington Ward, we welcome the opportunity to help shape the work on a transport strategy for the area. We are acutely aware of the problems residents and workers suffer because the transport system is near capacity and it is high time that official responses moved from being reactive to being strategic. We hope that the commitment to developing a strategy is more than just political window-dressing and is, instead, real, determined and long-term. It is also essential that the strategy is owned by the whole community, not just by the Councils and the big employers. We are, of course, pleased that you have taken our advice and are gathering responses from the residential community. We urge you to show your commitment to an on-going partnership with Headington’s residents and their representatives.

 

What do you consider to be the transport issues and problems in the study area (includes Barton, Headington, Marston, Risinghurst and Wood Farm)?

There are several well-known structural issues that are the root causes of the acknowledged traffic problems in the Headington area:

  1. Headington is a major employment hub for the city, with five hospitals, a University of Oxford research centre and Oxford Brookes University, along with several independent schools.
  2. For various reasons, the area has high accommodation costs, so some employees live well outside the area and commute to work in Headington.
  3. The major hospitals have constraints in terms of access from the ring road, as they are located in areas of Headington adjacent to protected sites: for example, the JR is near the Old Headington Conservation Area, and the Churchill is adjacent to the Boundary Brook and Lye Valley SSSI.
  4. Headington is also the gateway to Oxford for visitors from London and the airports, and many residents commute to jobs in London and the Thames Valley.

All these factors contribute to the problems:

  1. Road congestion at peak times, rat running through residential roads, and deterioration of road surfaces particularly in London Road, Osler Road, and Latimer Road.
  2. Headington has two air quality hotspots as measured by Oxford City Council (Air Quality Action Plan summary).
  3. Transport issues and problems for pedestrians include:
  • A well-used but dangerous crossing point in London Road at the junction with Osler Road
  • No audible signal for visually impaired pedestrians to cross at Headington Carfax, confusion between pedestrians and drivers about who has right of way at raised entrances to residential roads off London Road
  • An articulated need for a second pedestrian crossing in Windmill Road from the Bateman Street area to assist children in their travel to school.
  1. Transport issues and problems re cyclists include:
  • Fragmented cycle lanes and confusion over priority with pedestrians in shared spaces
  • Cycling on pavements by those who are less confident (and often are adults)
  • Many cycle to and from major employment and study destinations in Old Road and perceive this road to be dangerous
  • Failure to observe highway rules e.g. failing to stop at pedestrian crossings or red traffic lights.
  1. Public transport issues and problems include:
  • Bunching of buses in London Road
  • Routing of buses through a residential road which is not fit for purpose (Osler Road)
  • Unmet demand for buses to Summertown from Headington Centre
  • Night shift hospital staff unable to get on the busy no. 4 service at the Churchill stop in morning peak time
  • Buses and coaches in London Road swerving to avoid the rutted road surface
  • The removal of bus services from the Franklin Road area to Headington and Oxford.
  1. Coaches and traffic to/from independent schools cause congestion and generate parking problems in Latimer Road and London Road. There is a stated need by these schools for shuttle buses from Thornhill and the railway station.
  2. Vehicles stuck in traffic queues in London Road heading east pull out into the centre of the road and cut corners into Lime Walk and Latimer Road causing near misses
  3. Motorists perceive some junctions to be dangerous:
  • The All Saints Road/Lime Walk junction where traffic is unexpectedly encountered coming from a counter-intuitive direction
  • Headington Carfax where vehicles get stranded in the centre of the junction trying to turn right, and sometimes move only when the green man is showing for pedestrians
  1. Heavy congestion and/or avoidance of perceived hazardous junctions results in rat-running in (a) Barton Lane/St Andrew’s Road/Dunstan Road  (b) Highfield Area, including Latimer Road from Old Road  (c) Sandfield Road/Woodlands Road to Headley Way from London Road  (d) via Headington Quarry to avoid delays at Green Road roundabout
  2. There is speeding at off-peak times in Windmill Road, Lime Walk and London Road, and vehicles exceed the 20 MPH limits in residential roads including Dunstan Road, and roads off London Road and Old Road.
  3. The exit from Barton onto the Green Road roundabout causes problems for drivers as there is no traffic light to help them. Vehicles merging from slip road filtering left from Green Road roundabout to Cowley-bound eastern bypass sometimes cause near-misses.
  4. Taxis pulling in at Dorset House mount the pavement and obstruct line of sight for motorists immediately in front of a bus stop and pedestrian crossing
  5. Motorists have difficulty exiting from residential roads into heavy traffic e.g. Windmill Road from Langley Close and Rock Edge, London Road from Latimer Road, Lime Walk
  6. Parking issues can cause transport problems:
  • Lack of short stay parking means those using cash dispensers or visiting only one shop park on DYLs and in side streets causing congestion
  • The RPZ areas need revising – some residents with permits can’t find spaces and have to park on corners or on DYLs e.g. Gardiner Street, Windsor St. areas.
  • Commercial and retail staff swap around cars and vans every two hours to avoid car parking charges causing shortage of 2 or 3 hour parking for visitors e.g. in Old High Street.

 

What solutions do you think could form part of a strategy to address the transport issues identified?

It has to be accepted that not all the solutions to Headington’s traffic issues are in the hands of the Local Highway Authority (LHA). There are, though, many actions the LHA can and should take. Those actions should be guided by the following seven principles:

  1. Develop any strategy in engagement with the whole community, including residents and small businesses, not just the top three employers. This can be best done through constructive dialogue with the Headington Transport Group and the Headington Neighbourhood Forum as it progresses the Neighbourhood Plan.
  2. Establish clearly the transport capacity of the Headington area and be ready to object to planning applications which put intolerable strain on the transport system.
  3. Recognise that the route through Headington is perceived as the gateway to Oxford and so give it the priority it requires. As a first step, make urgent repairs to the carriageway between the Headington cross-roads and the Green Road roundabout.
  4. Accept that many of the streets of Headington are residential and were not built to sustain large vehicles. As far as possible, respect the residential nature of those streets and do not subject them to inappropriate usage.
  5. Ensure that any strategy balances the needs of all road-users – pedestrians, cyclists, bus-users and car-drivers. Wherever possible, give each category of user dedicated road space.
  6. Tackle the issues which limit the use of public transport. The introduction of cross-ticketing has certainly helped but more needs to be done to encourage travellers to choose buses over cars. This is particularly the case when a journey involves changing from one bus to another.
  7. Ensure that effective quality control mechanisms are in place to guarantee the standard of work undertaken in any changes. Specifically, review contract arrangements to ensure that there is rigorous comeback on contractors for shoddy workmanship.

Specific actions that should be taken include:

a)      Collect and analyse origin and destination survey data to establish the purpose and direction of travel through Headington, and the start and end locations of those journeys.

b)      Encourage Oxford City Council to set up more air quality monitoring points and determine what action would be taken if the air quality reaches a level that is less than adequate

c)       Rebuild surface of London Road from Green Road roundabout to Headington Carfax as a top priority for the City.

d)      Further develop Thornhill Park & Ride, recognising that it is used both by commuters into Oxford and Oxford residents commuting to London. Make it more attactive by further expansion and a fairer pricing regime. In particular, support the introduction of shuttle buses from Thornhill to the independent schools and major employers, reducing through-traffic and parking problems

e)      Carry out improvements to improve safety. These may include:

  • Improve signage of priority at raised junctions
  • Investigate whether the roadway and pavements in Windmill Road could be redesigned so that pedestrians don’t have to walk into the road to pass queues at the bus stop
  • Put in yellow boxes in London Road and Windmill Road at junctions with residential streets
  • Erect a bollard in the centre of both Latimer Road and Lime Walk near the junction with London Road so that drivers cannot cut corners when turning right off London Road

f)       Re-arrange pedestrian crossings on London Road in order both to help pedestrians and improve traffic flows. In particular,  establish a safe pedestrian crossing point at the junction of London Road and Osler Road

g)      Establish further pedestrian crossings to improve safety and help pedestrians:  introduce an additional pedestrian crossing between New Headington Bateman Street exit across Windmill Road to help traffic from side streets pull out into Windmill Road, deter speeding at off-peak times, and help parents and children travelling to school using an alternative route to London Road.

h)      Establish two joined up cycle routes through Headington, one for confident cyclists and one for under-confident and learner cyclists. Ensure that there are well-planned cycle routes to schools, major employment sites, and health centres. In particular, identify space for off road cycle track down Old Road, through liaison with the University and OUHT. Plan and implement cycling routes from Barton West to Old Road area,  Headington Centre and Library, and the JR with Highways s106 from Barton West development

i)        Set up cycle proficiency training with adult cyclists. Give errant cyclists the choice of a FPN or attendance at cycle proficiency training. Work with employers, TVP and schools to improve cycle training.

j)        Work with bus companies to the following ends:

  • Take up bunching issues with bus companies.
  • Set up direct bus services between district centres e.g. Headington and Summertown so that passengers don’t need to travel into Oxford and out again (this could reduce the number of bus journeys required).
  • Bring pressure to bear on bus companies to re-route buses away from Osler Road to Headley Way.
  • Set up specifications for bus contracts in such a way that double decker buses are used only at peak times in residential roads. Involve local councillors at officers’ specification design stage.
  • Require improved passenger collection data so that accurate records are kept of passengers using parts of journeys.

k)      Ensure that bus laybys are large enough to accommodate two buses rather than allowing queuing in the line of traffic.

l)        Investigate traffic calming in residential areas where there is rat running and speeding, and work with residents to achieve this. Investigate placing of parking slots in residential roads in such a way that parking is on alternate sides of the road to slow down traffic and make the roads less attractive to use

m)    Increase parking enforcement in side roads off the London Road (initially self-financing in Kennett Road and Stephen Road). Identify possible locations for short stay and visitor parking. Prioritise revision of RPZs in Headington. Investigate maximum limit for visitor permits and review Highways policy on visitor permits in Headington. Identify alternative parking areas for trades and commercial vehicles

Residents have also raised further suggestions with us which we forward to you for consideration. Their listing here does not imply our support for them.  We should need to consult our residents more widely and acquire more information before forming an opinion and declaring a view.

i.            The establishment of link roads from the ring road to the JR and to Old Road

ii.            Consider the possibility of running London and airport buses from hubs at Park and Rides e.g. Thornhill or re-routing a proportion of each long-distance service away from Headington

iii.            Land swaps to relocate a major employers’ site:  use vacated area to improve infrastructure/access and allow for affordable housing and growth? Promote car-sharing and car clubs by liaising with employers, and designating some parking slots for shared cars only.

iv.            Consult residents of Osler Road on possible repositioning of parking spaces and / or re-design of the road

v.            Consider other options to manage traffic at Headington Carfax, including a shared space solution

 

David Rundle

david.rundle@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

Ruth Wilkinson

ruth.wilkinson@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

11/10/13

[Please note: the formatting is slightly changed here from the original]

The City Deal bid – what’s it all about?

Please click here to find out!

A report on the city deal bid will be discussed at a meeting of the City Executive Board next week. Oxford has submitted an expression of interest in bidding for government funding which focused on transformational growth through stimulating the local knowledge economy. The combination of the two world class universities and ‘Big Science’ in the Science Vale are central to the bid.

The City Deal Bid Team comprises representatives from the six local authorities, the Local Enterprise Partnership, University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes Universities and representatives of Science and Research organisations at Harwell and Culham has been overseeing the development of the bid. The County Council has chaired the Bid Team and been leading on co-ordination with support provided by the City Council.

This report sets out an ‘ambition’ statement which form the basis for discussions with partners and Government civil servants advising the Bid Team and will continue through to submission of the final Negotiation Document in October 2013.

The County Council responds to Osler Road bus questions

We promised to post up the County Council officers’ response to our questions and here they are in full. We are continuing a dialogue with the officers on a number of points, and will post later on that.

1. What consultation took place with county and city councillors and indeed residents before the choice of route was agreed? 

The only realistic route that would deliver attractive bus services from Thornhill to the JR is via Osler Road.  We appreciate the concerns that have been raised by Osler Road residents about more use of the route, but it is public highway and its role in the local public transport network was established by means of the planning process when the JR was expanded in 2007.

2. Was the outcome of the public meeting [Ruth] organised with Osler Road residents, bus companies, county councillors and officers from City and County taken into account when the route was decided? After that meeting, Oxford Bus Co. to their credit re-routed its service away from Osler Rd and via Headley Way.

See above.  It wasn’t necessary for the Oxford Bus Company to use Osler Road to link the JR with the city centre and Abingdon so the route was amended.  The new service from Thornhill to JR does have to use Osler Road in order to make it sufficiently attractive to potential passengers.  Routeing it via London Road and Headley Way would result in longer and more unreliable journey times and a more expensive operation (at least one more bus would be needed to make the service run).  Fewer people would use the bus service and there would in turn be more cars trying to get through Headington adding to congestion, making bus services less attractive again.

 3. Were the number of near misses and incidents in Osler Road taken into account when the route was decided? (rails had to be put up on the pavement outside the Nursery because of the dangers from vehicles mounting the pavement to pass each other).

Stagecoach has been running buses along Osler Road for some time now.  They obviously took into account the operating conditions when submitting their bid for the new bus service.

4. Were those making the decision aware that Osler Road is for the most part single lane past parked cars (some residents have no off road parking) and that the exit from the Manor Hospital also feeds into it? 

See answer to previous question.  We are looking at how the parking at the southern end of the road can be managed better to make sure buses turning right from London Road are not unduly delayed.  As you know, this currently can have a knock on effect on London Road traffic flow.

5. Were those making the decision aware that .. buses frequently run empty along that stretch of road? Will the number 10 route cease to run along Osler Road – that would at least mitigate some of the wear and tear on roads and attitudes.

Inevitably, morning buses will have more passengers travelling towards the John Radcliffe, whilst afternoon and evening buses will have more passengers travelling away from the John Radcliffe.  Route 10 conveys many people from the Cowley and Wood Farm areas to the John Radcliffe. Re-routing these buses would add several minutes journey time to people making daily journeys, which in turn would lead to fewer passengers, more cars trying to pass through Headington, less frequent and less attractive bus services.  

We will of course work closely with Stagecoach as the operator of both the number 10 and the new park & ride service to review the usage of those services.

6. Were those making the decision fully aware of the damage that has been caused to Osler Road by buses and other heavy vehicles for which the road was not designed? Highways no longer replace kerbs trashed by buses and other vehicles clipping the London Road/Osler Road junction as it can’t keep up with the damage – [the] team is simply re-tarmacking it. I’m constantly reporting potholes and the road surface is crumbling, it is currently being reassessed for resurfacing. I was told by one transport planner that she felt the whole road needed rebuilding because of the constant damage.

There is only sufficient finance for potholes and patching currently, but Osler Road has now been included in the provisional 2014-16 maintenance programme – this is due to be approved by members in February.  In the meantime, the city council will continue to do all that it can to fix the existing problems with the surface.

7. Funding: will the County and Stagecoach jointly pay for the road to be re-surfaced?

 The county council will fund the comprehensive maintenance scheme provisionally scheduled for 2014-16.

Further comment:

The issue is the length of time it takes along both London Road and Headley Way (and back again) to get to the JR.  I’ve answered that point under question 2 – diverting away from Osler Road that way will result in many fewer people using it to get to the JR.  Using less fuel is obviously one factor in a decision to use Osler Road – it’s a shorter distance – but the extra time it takes to get to the destination is much more significant.

County Council chooses Osler Road for new bus routes

Last week, a Headington resident trawled the internet and found timetables for bus routes about to be operated by Stagecoach to and from the hospitals. The routes include Osler Road which is unsuitable for bus traffic.  There was apparently no consultation with Osler Road or The Croft  residents, nor was any consultation held with councillors who knew the area well.

The county hurriedly sent out a press release yesterday which is now on their website (click here). This press release was tracked down by city councillors who had not been informed by the County Council.

An email was sent to us by one of the County officers yesterday evening  in response to Friday’s phone call and it states:

 I can confirm that alternatives were looked at (access via Headley Way) but the longer journey time would require more buses to maintain the frequency we are looking for and we were of the opinion that a longer than necessary route would not achieve the modal shift from using the JR car parks to that of using the extended Thornhill Park & Ride site.

Here are just some of the questions we have sent to the officers by email:

1. What consultation took place with county and city councillors and indeed residents before the choice of route was agreed?

2. Was the outcome of the public meeting Ruth organised with Osler Road residents, bus companies, county councillors and officers from City and County) taken into account when the route was decided? After that meeting, Oxford Bus Co. to their credit re-routed its service away from Osler Rd and via Headley Way

3. Were the number of near misses and incidents in Osler Road taken into account when the route was decided? (rails had to be put up on the pavement outside the Nursery because of the dangers from vehicles mounting the pavement to pass each other)

4. Were those making the decision aware that Osler Road is for the most part single lane past parked cars (some residents have no off road parking) and that the exit from the Manor Hospital also feeds into it?

5. Were those making the decision aware that buses frequently run empty along [the] stretch of road between [Headington Centre and the JR entrance in Osler Road]?

6. Were those making the decision fully aware of the damage that has been caused to Osler Road by buses and other heavy vehicles for which the road was not designed? Highways no longer replace kerbs trashed by buses and other vehicles clipping the London Road/Osler Road junction as it can’t keep up with the damage – [the] team is simply re-tarmacking it. I’m constantly reporting potholes and the road surface is crumbling, it is currently being reassessed for resurfacing. I was told by one transport planner that she felt the whole road needed rebuilding because of the constant damage.

7. Funding: will the County and Stagecoach jointly pay for the road to be re-surfaced?

In a further phone call this morning, we were informed that the contract had been competitively tendered. We were also told that repairs and maintenance of Osler Road cannot be borne by a commercial bus operator. This will clearly be a further and continuing bill for County Council taxpayers in coming years – if taxpayers’ money is diverted towards this, then other important and high priority re-surfacing projects won’t get done.

We shall update this site as more information is supplied by the County Council.  County Councillor Roz Smith is pressing the Cabinet Member Cllr Nimmo-Smith for answers. (and that’s an understatement)

It appears that the County Council now puts resident consultation very low on its priority list. We agree that bus services to hospitals are very important, and we want to keep as many vehicles out of Headington as possible because there is so much congestion. But all it needed was some consultation and a little bit of common sense to recognise that Osler Road is unsuitable for heavy traffic, and Headley Way is a viable and safer alternative.

Consultation: improving bus priority near Green Rd roundabout

Oxfordshire County Council is consulting the public on its proposals to improve bus priority in the vicinity of Green Road roundabout, Headington.

There will be a drop-in session from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday 18th July at Headington Quarry Village Hall (Jubilee Room – entrance in Margaret Road) where county council staff will be able to discuss the scheme in more detail.

They are also taking the opportunity to carry out a formal consultation on the proposed changes to the extents of the bus lane at the Thornhill Park and Ride site.

Want to see the maps? Then come along to our next Headington Ward Focus meeting on Wed 10 July from 6.00-8.00pm at the Headington Baptist Church Hall in Old High Street. We shall make sure we have copies on display

Please note that the closing date for this consultation is 25th July 2013.

Four months of traffic works at Thornhill: may mean lane closure

The following information has come up on the highways website for roadworks in the Headington Area, disruption should be limited to Thornhill Park and Ride area

London Road, Headington South Oxfordshire, Oxford, Oxfordshire
19 April — 30 August
Delays likely Lane closure
Works location: Exit / Entrance To P & R
Works description: Realignment Of The P & R Access Road & Implementation Of An Additional Bus Lane. Max Depth Of Work 450mm
Responsibility for works: Oxfordshire County Council
Current status: Planned work about to start

London Road plan – option for consultation announced

 

The senior County transport planner who attended the public meeting in December called by Cllr Roz Smith has released more details of the scheme going out for consultation. He writes:

Following the public meeting in December and consideration of the comments made, together with further work on estimating the costs and benefits of the scheme, major changes have been proposed.  The new scheme is cheaper and delivers much greater benefits to buses and other traffic; it also minimises the impact on cyclists and pedestrians and should avoid the loss of any trees.  The changes were considered and approved by Cllr Rose at a recent Transport Strategy meeting.

The major changes are that we now intend to provide inbound bus lane around the outside of the roundabout from the A40 into the A420 London Road as far as a relocated first bus stop.  This would be moved to almost opposite the existing outbound stop, a more convenient location for passengers.  This would allow buses priority up to and including this stop, and would allow non-stopping buses and other traffic to pass stationary buses.  This should reduce the problem of traffic backing up across the roundabout at times during the morning peak.

No further bus lane would be provided so inbound buses would then share the carriageway with other traffic as far as the next stop at Gladstone Road and would then continue via the existing inbound bus lane.  This and the existing outbound bus lane would remain unchanged.

Limited road widening would still be needed, but only for a short distance to the east of Northfield Road.  The shared use footway/cycleway on the north side of London Road would not be adversely affected as the cycleway switches to the service road just east of Northfield Road.

I should stress that this is work in progress and that there will be formal public consultation before it can be given final approval.

If you would like more information (plans available) please contact David or Ruth or County Cllr Roz Smith roz.smith@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

There is no promise here of funding to upgrade road or footway surfaces in any other part of the London Road outside the area covered by the scheme.