As pupils go back to school this week, David Nimmo Smith, the county councillor in charge of Oxfordshire’s transport, explains how the road network will cope

The start of September marks the beginning of the new school year and also a major increase in the amount of traffic on our roads.

The city of Oxford and the wider county is attracting new business and significant growth and this will continue to place increased demands on a transport infrastructure already in need of investment. The sheer scale of work that we are doing now means there’s some significant disruption on the roads.

So what are things going to look like when the schools return?

Well, I can’t pretend that things are going to be easy.

In fact I am sure that there will be a great deal of congestion, particularly in the first few days as people start to realise the effects of there being an increase in traffic of between 14 per cent to 17 per cent due to people returning to their commuting routine.

First days back

There will be a phased return of traffic to the city’s roads with the state-funded schools returning the first week in September, private schools, a week or so later and the universities in October.

Our engineers have designed the traffic management to create the minimum amount of disruption possible while the work is being done, but there will still be significant delays.

In terms of making the traffic flow more freely, we will have our traffic team actively monitoring and, where possible, making changes to the timing of traffic lights to optimise flows.

Improve your own journey

The county council has been actively reminding people that we are working on Cutteslowe and Wolvercote roundabouts.

We are also working at Frideswide Square, Milton, Chilton and soon at Hagbourne Hill.

All of these works need either traffic management, which means that capacity is reduced and delays increased.

And that is why we are asking road users to think about the journeys that they make.

There is much that commuters can do to improve their journeys and that starts with getting informed so that you can make good travel choices.

Taking the time now to explore incorporating walking or cycling into part of your journey, and taking alternative routes or public transport, could really make a difference.

Not everyone will need to drive.

If you can make part of your journey on foot then clearly you will not get stuck in traffic, and if you cycle you can get past most hold-ups with relative ease.

Buses can use bus lanes where they are available and have the potential to save massive amounts of road space.

Why so much and why so long?

We are regularly asked why we are doing so much work and why we are doing things at the same time.

The answer is that we have the opportunity and the investment available now to make some major improvements and if we don’t then there is a very real chance that the roads will grind to a halt not because of work, but due to demand outweighing capacity. My simple answer to the question ‘why now?’ is ‘if not now, when will there ever be a good time?’

Working methods

Another regular question is ‘why does it take so long to do these jobs?’ and ‘why we don’t work 24/7?’ The simple answer is that we could do certain things much more quickly if we didn’t keep the roads open to traffic and didn’t consider residents and businesses. But also longer hours doesn’t always make more work possible.

Oxford Mail:

  • Roadworks: Traffic on the approach to the Cutteslowe roundabout on the A40

When we determine the duration and working hours for a scheme there are a number of factors that have to be considered.

Occupying more space in the road, or closing them altogether, means we can do more in a shorter time scale. Working 24/7 in certain situations can reduce the duration of roadworks but is often not possible as restrictions on noisy works are often in place.

Materials may not be available round the clock and time is needed for things like concrete to properly harden.

The end result

It is very important that we keep in mind the fact that the improvement work is being done for good reasons and that the end results will be worthwhile.

For 20 or 30 years people have been saying we need to invest in the roads – and now we are!

Oxfordshire is also seeing significant investment and development with new housing, commercial facilities and retail outlets like the new Westgate, all of which will give more and more people reason to travel into Oxford and around Oxfordshire.

The work that we are doing now aims to ensure that road capacity keeps pace with demand and also that the places that are going to provide the jobs and generate wealth for the future are viable.

You only have to look at last year’s schemes on London Road and the A423 at Kennington as well as other major improvements we have made in recent years to see that after the disruption there are significant and long-lasting benefits.

The website traveline.info provides an easy A to B service, which allows you to get where you need to be by public transport.

Oxfordshire.gov.uk/travelchoices contains the latest information on all the major improvement schemes the county council is working on plus links to other transport options.