'I will take subway battle to Downing Street' (From Oxford Mail)

'I will take subway battle to Downing Street'

6:59pm Thursday 2nd July 2009 in

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A COMMUNITY leader has vowed to take his battle to save an Oxford subway to the very top.

Oxfordshire County Council today agreed to press ahead with its controversial £2.3m scheme to tackle traffic congestion in Headington.

The project aims to improve bus reliability in London Road, improve conditions for pedestrians and give the Headington shopping area a facelift.

The scheme, which is the second phase of the London Road improvement plan, is expected to cause nine months of delays for motorists when work begins next spring.

The improvements also mean the area’s 1970s subway will be filled in, at a cost of £45,000, and replaced with a pedestrian crossing.

Community leader Mick Haines, who collected 2,411 signatures on a petition to save the subway, said he would now take his campaign all the way to Downing Street.

Mr Haines, 68, of Crotch Crescent, Marston, said: “It’s absolutely disgusting. The council has got no respect for the will of the people whatsoever.

“Without a doubt I’m taking the petition to Downing Street. It isn’t over — I’m going to fight to keep the subway.”

Barton and Churchill county councillor Roz Smith said: “I will back Mick’s campaign. The subway is a feature of Headington, it isn’t just a safe way to cross London Road.”

A survey by Headington city councillor David Rundle revealed 61 per cent of residents were in favour of keeping the subway and argued it should be kept — alongside a new crossing.

But County Hall said 58 per cent of Headington residents were in favour of scrapping the subway when they realised there would be a replacement crossing.

At yesterday’s meeting, council engineer Colin Baird said the current subway would not be permitted under modern building standards as the ramps were too steep for people with mobility problems.

He said it would not be possible to accommodate both crossings without an expensive rejig of the first phase of the scheme.

Opponents of the work believe the second phase of roadworks between Osler Road and Wharton Road will be more disruptive than the first phase as it involves roadworks at busy junctions in the centre of Headington.

But the council said it had learned its lessons from the first phase of the scheme, which over-ran by two months and caused misery for more than 14,000 motorists who use the road every day.

County councillor Ian Hudspeth, the cabinet member for growth and infrastructure said: “I was very unhappy with what happened on phase one and I want to make sure it does not happen again.”

The council has suggested pictures of the subway’s colourful murals could be put on a website for people to view after it is filled in.

cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk