Press release re A2H delay

We have been sent the following press release from the County Council.

The start of the next phase of the Access to Headington transport improvement project has been postponed.

Work had been due to start on Headley Way on 22 January along the length of Headley Way including the junction works outside the John Radcliffe hospital and on the Marsh Lane junction.

However concerns over costs, utility diversions and technical issues relating to the hill section between Marsh Lane and the hospital, mean that the construction team have decided to put the start on hold. This means that the team are now looking at other sources of funding along with ways to reduce costs so that the improvement work goes ahead.

However the need for more certainty over costs, utility diversions and technical issues relating to the hill section between Marsh Lane and the hospital, mean that the construction team have decided to put the start on hold. This has also provided an opportunity to seek additional sources of funding to include improvements that had previously been unaffordable along with ways to reduce costs so that the improvement work goes ahead.

It is hoped that a new date for the work to start can be decided in the coming weeks.

County Councillor Yvonne Constance, Cabinet member for Environment and Economy, said: “We are still committed to delivering the scheme and some facilitating work will continue at weekends so that we are ready

“This is a challenging and much needed piece of work and it makes sense to look again at the costs and designs to ensure that it can be delivered on budget. We had hoped to resolve this without needing to pause the scheme but require more time to reach a conclusion.”

Work on The Slade is programmed to finish in February providing a new off-carriageway facility for cyclists as well as improved crossings. Once complete known issues such as parking obstructing the path will see enforcement action taking place.

The new junction on Gypsy Lane, completed early 2017, is working well and we will continue monitoring of that over the duration of the Access to Headington programme. The latest work undertaken on Old Road/Churchill Drive and Churchill Drive/Roosevelt Drive is now complete and working well providing improved access for the Churchill Hospital site.

Latest Access to Headington update

Here is the latest from County about the Access to Headington scheme.

The Slade

We have now completed the work between the mini roundabout at Hollow Way and Wood Farm Road and we are looking to complete the current phase of work between Wood Farm Road and Slade Close before Christmas.

We will start the last phase after Christmas between Slade Close and Old Road – this will take approximately four weeks to complete.

Traffic management will remain in place over the Christmas period, though we will remove as much as we can. Daily safety checks will be carried out

 

Churchill Drive/Roosevelt Drive 

We are working in the final phase of this set of works and are on schedule to complete the main construction work before Christmas. There may be some minor work to do after Christmas but this will be minor and will cause little disruption.

The majority of the traffic management will be removed over the Christmas period however Churchill Drive will remain as access only and traffic leaving the Churchill site will continue to be diverted via Roosevelt Drive. The permanent traffic lights on Old Road have been switched on this week.

 

Headley Way

The team will start setting up begin on Tuesday 16th January, but this should not be disruptive to traffic. Construction work will start on Tuesday 23rd January. Information on programme of work will follow early January.

We are going to be holding a public exhibition on Thursday 14th December at the Heading Prep School between 2:30pm and 6:30pm. This is an opportunity to speak to members of the project team from the County Council, Skanska and the Designers. All aspects of the project remain the same as per the last public exhibition held in the Summer and all drawings can be found on the Oxfordshire County Council website.

 

Christmas Shut Down

All work will cease on Friday 22nd December for the Christmas period. Work will begin again on Tuesday 2nd January. Traffic management will remain in place during the closure for safety reasons. Regular safety checks will be made.

Temporary overnight closures of Old Road

Here is the latest from the County Council

TRAFFIC REGULATION NOTICE

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT, 1984

Notice is hereby given pursuant to Section 14(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act, 1984, that the Oxfordshire County Council 

TEMPORARILY PROHIBITS THE USE OF THE HIGHWAY BY ALL MOTOR VEHICLES         

 LOCATION:          Oxford, Headington, Old Road        

 REASON:             To facilitate carriageway improvement works  

DURATION:          Night works starting on 30 October 2017 (8pm – 5am)

The anticipated completion date is 3 November 2017

(Traffic Regulation Notices cover a maximum of 5 consecutive days.)

PLEASE NOTE Although the closures are scheduled for 5 nights, the work is probably going to take less time than this – extreme weather conditions have been factored in.                                                                               

ACCESS:             Limited access will be maintained for emergency service vehicles and for frontages within the closed section of road, subject to the progress of the works

 SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE ROUTE: Roosevelt Drive – Gipsy Lane – A420 – Windmill Road – Old Road & vice-versa.

A map of the works area (part of the Access to Headington scheme) may be viewed below.

Access to Headington: conflict of use of space at bus stops

Bus stops and crossings in new highways works are always tricky in terms of off-carriageway infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists as they are inherently points where desire line cross.

We asked the County Council about the possible conflict between bus passengers alighting and passing cyclists near the bus stops in the Slade. Here is the response we received:

The areas outside the bus stops and crossings are shared space rather than cycle lane/pedestrian lane so both users share priority.  The appropriate signage and markings will be in place in order to remind users of the change in priority.

Access to Headington: Highfield street event still going ahead

We asked the County Council to ensure the road diversions due to traffic works will not impede the Highfield Residents’ Association meze party and outdoor film showing on 16th September. Good news – the event will still go ahead – see letter to Lime Walk residents below. HRA had sought and been given permission to run the event well ahead of time, but that permission was given ahead of the date when the decision was made to facilitate construction works in Lime Walk and Old Road.

Dear Sir/ Madam

Re: Access to Headington – Churchill Drive, Old Road and Roosevelt Drive

We recently wrote to you to advise you that Lime Walk would be partially closed from the 11th September to facilitate the construction works on the Lime Walk Junction, Old Road and Churchill Drive. Due to the street party on All-Saints Road on 16th September we wanted to reassure you that the diversion route will be temporarily suspended that weekend to allow access and egress on the Lime Walk/Old Road junction via temporary traffic lights. All other elements of the works will remain the same.

We appreciate this work can be disruptive and we thank you for your patience throughout. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the project please contact our site project team at accessheadington@oxfordshire.gov.uk or you can call Oxfordshire County Council’s Customer Services team on 0845 310 1111.

You can find out more about Access to Headington and sign up the project e-bulletins at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/travelchoices

 

Oxfordshire County Council

Access to Headington: works affecting Old Road, Churchill Drive, Roosevelt Drive

Here is the letter sent to all residents in the area by the County Council

Dear Sir/ Madam

Re: Access to Headington – Churchill Drive, Old Road and Roosevelt Drive

We wanted to let you know that on 11th September we will begin work on Churchill Drive and it’s junction with Old Road.

The work involves installing traffic lights at the junction as well as re-aligning parts of the footway. We will also be doing small amounts of work at the Roosevelt Drive/Churchill Drive junction. The work is programmed to take 15 weeks to complete.

Over the first 9 weeks of the project we will be working mainly on Old Road under two-way temporary traffic lights. During this time Churchill Drive will be access only from Old Road, however emergency vehicles will also be able to exit onto Old Road from Churchill Drive. All other vehicles will be diverted via Roosevelt Drive.

Lime Walk will also be partially closed over the first 9 weeks. Vehicles will be able to access Lime Walk from Old Road but those wishing to exit onto Old Road will have to do so via Stapleton Road. We will be suspending 5 parking spaces on Lime Walk (spaces closest to Old Road) whilst we carry out the works around the junction.

We will be undertaking 1 weeks’ worth of night works (scheduled for week commencing 23rd October – subject to change) in order to carry out surfacing to the carriageway on Old Road. Night works take place between 8pm and 6am, though very noisy work will cease at 11pm as per our Section 61 agreement with Oxford City Council.

Once the work on Old Road has been complete, we will begin a short period of works to the junction of Roosevelt Drive/Churchill Drive. This involves some re-aligning of the kerbs as well as installation of cables under the road surface.

More information on this set of works and other sections of Access to Headington can be found on the Oxfordshire County Council website at the following address www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/accessheadington. You can also sign up to our regular e-bulletins at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/travelchoices.

The work will be carried out by Skanska Construction. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the project please contact our site project team at accessheadington@oxfordshire.gov.uk or you can call Oxfordshire County Council’s Customer Services team on 0845 310 1111.

We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your cooperation.

Headley Way phase of Access to Headington works delayed

Here is the press release we have received from construction firm Skanska

The next phase of Access to Headington, which had been due to start on 24 July, has been postponed until the new year.

Following continued discussions and alterations to the traffic management for Thames Water’s urgent sewer works on St Clements the county council has decided the overall disruption for traffic would be unacceptable.

County Councillor Yvonne Constance, cabinet member for Environment, said: “The Thames Water work must be done now as we could otherwise be in a situation where the sewers collapse and an emergency road closure is needed – that would be the worst possible situation.

“We have kept in constant contact with Thames Water and have worked closely with them to reduce the length of time their work will take as well as the impact on traffic.


“The traffic management for Thames Water’s work has been repeatedly discussed and refined and the impacts considered across a wider area. Our team have concluded that traffic re-directed from, or seeking to avoid, the St Clements work will hit the Access to Headington work resulting in congestion and pushing traffic from one set of roadworks to another.

“For that reason we have decided, as our work is more flexible, that we will move the Headley Way/Cherwell Drive phase to the new year.”

The Access to Headington project team will be investigating other phases of the programme that could start this year that will not be as badly affected by redirected traffic from the Thames Water works.

We are hoping this may give us more time to negotiate improvements in the intended scheme with the County Council