St Andrew’s Road street surgery

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

Cycling in Pullens Lane

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

Queen Street changes – Lib Dems force review

A pedestrianised Queen Street

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.

Speed restriction on the way

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

Lib Dems set out position on Oxford buses

Red Bus (photography: John Vincent)

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.

What do you think of the London Rd plans?

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

Osler Road crossing: goodbye — or is it au revoir?

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

Transform Oxford – your views count!

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.

Further consultation on 20mph limits for Oxford

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