Blame city's road layout, not the police (From Oxford Mail)

Blame city's road layout, not the police

7:10am Wednesday 11th November 2009 in

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THE anger of drivers caught in yet another Oxford jam is understandable, yet the police find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.

On the face of it, taking 11 hours to clear the wreckage of a lorry carrying car parts on the southern ringroad is too long, particularly when this one incident brought major routes across the city and the A34 to a frustrating crawl.

But the lorry, it turns out, fell on to a live electric cable and so there was an added danger to the recovery of the vehicle. There has to be due regard for safety.

Most people must realise the police would not deliberately delay mopping up this incident, particularly with such a widespread effect.

The real blame lies with this city’s inadequate road layout.

Time and again we see incidents like this create a ripple effect across Oxford; a crash at Wolvercote completely choked Botley Road into the city late on Friday night.

The road infrastructure has no flexibility in it to cope with crashes and roadworks and until something radical — either more roads or public transport allowing (or forcing) people out of their cars — this will continue to be a reality of living and working in Oxford.