Traffic changes given  a cautious welcome

Oxford’s road network is set for a £4.5m upgrade so it can cope with the Barton West development.

Oxford City Council wants to build nearly 900 homes on land it owns west of Barton.

But with mounting concerns about how the city could cope with increased volumes of traffic created by the scheme, Oxfordshire County Council has revealed it intends to handle the problem with a massive injection of cash to be paid for by the development.

As the highways authority, it has proposed new bus routes, lane changes to the Green Road ‘hamburger’ roundabout, replacing a junction with roundabouts in Marston and a new controlled parking zone.

But the county has warned the city that if these aren’t agreed to it will object to the whole scheme.

In a report, transport development control officer David Groves said: “If the development cannot commit to providing this infrastructure/funding, then the council as highway authority would no longer be able to support the proposal and consequently result in objecting to the application.”

People living near and travelling along the affected roads are likely to face disruption, although it is understood the various schemes would be staggered as each phase of the housing development is completed.

A section 106 arrangement will need to be agreed to pay for the works, with the city council and development company Grosvenor providing more than £2.2m in contributions.

This would part-fund changes at the junction of Cherwell Drive, Marston Road and Marsh Lane, where double mini-roundabouts would be replaced with traffic lights.

Charlie Haynes, chairman of Old Marston Parish Council, said: “We have fought for many years to get traffic lights on that junction and we are pleased they are doing it. Hopefully that will make the traffic flow a lot better.

“But there is going to be a vast amount of traffic generated from that estate and there is already an awful lot of traffic coming through the village.”

The money will also be spent on changes to the Green Road roundabout where changes would be made to lane markings and signal timings.

Two new bus services would be introduced, one to the John Radcliffe Hospital and the other to the city centre or Cowley. The developers will be expected to subsidise them until they become commercially viable.

Buses will be able to use a new junction between Barton West and Northway across the A40.

Barbara Naylor, chairman of Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council, said: “Traffic tails back to the Green Road roundabout, but it is certainly better than it was before.

“They need to put lights in at the Barton exit. Sometimes traffic goes all the way down Bayswater Road because only one or two can go out at a time. It is really dangerous.”

County council spokesman Martin Crabtree said the authority was still considering whether to install traffic lights at the Barton exit of the Green Road roundabout.

He added: “Costs and delivery timescales will be finalised as part of the detailed design and construction phasing for the development.”

Last year, the county objected to city council plans to drop the speed limit on part of the A40 from 70mph to 40mph. A 50mph limit was agreed.

City councillor Colin Cook, executive board member for city development, said: “My impression is that these are the sort of things which will have been discussed well in advance and it won’t come as a surprise to us.”

If planning approval is given, work could start on the site by the end of the year, with the first residents moving in by the end of 2015.

 

ALTERATIONS
& WHEN WORK WILL START

  • Scrapping the mini roundabouts at the junctions of Cherwell Drive, Marton Road and Marsh Lane and replacing them with traffic lights.
  •  Changes to lane markings on the Green Road roundabout and “minor changes” to signal timings
  • New and improved bus services going to the John Radcliffe Hospital and to either the city centre or Cowley
  • A new controlled parking zone to cover the Barton West area
  • Access to the Barton West estate will be from Barton Village Road and Harolde Close
  • A new junction for buses and emergency vehicles on the A40, which will be reduced to 50mph. If a town green application for land south-west of the access is approved, the location and layout would have to be redesigned
  • When work starts will depend on certain “triggers”, so the changes at the Cherwell Drive and Marston Road junction will be triggered by the occupation of the 250th house, while the junction on the A40 and the access to the existing Barton estate have to be completed by the occupation of the first house, the opening of the school or the opening of the commercial centre, whichever is first.
  • Completion of the A40 junction will be the trigger for the work on the Headington roundabout
  • The first bus service will have to begin running from the occupation of the 50th house.

COSTS INCLUDE

  • A40 junction: £1.8m
  • Cherwell Drive/Marsh Lane/Marston Road junction changes: £709k
  • A40 noise reduction measures: £391k
  • A40 traffic-claming measures: £334k
  • Barton Village Road access: £305k
  • Enhancement to underpass lighting: £110k
  • Harrolde Close access: £105k