A COUNCILLOR wants traffic lights back in Frideswide Square ‘urgently’ to keep main roads free from traffic.

To most people Frideswide Square, just next to Oxford train station, is the main route in and out of the city.

In 2015 the layout of the road was given a major shake-up and traffic lights were taken out and replaced with three roundabouts.

Oxford Mail:

The stretch 

But now, John Howson, who is a county councillor for St Margaret’s ward is making a fresh call for the traffic lights to be put back in.

He says he ‘warned’ there would be gridlock on shopping days when the plans were put in place to give Frideswide Square a £5.8m revamp.

He said: “On busy days Frideswide Square becomes gridlocked.

“I warned this would happen when the junction as created. It works well most of the time, but on bank holiday Saturday’s and other shopping days, it fails to do the job of keeping the traffic moving.”

On the solution, the councillor added: “Either manual control or temporary traffic lights are needed to keep public transport moving and the key routes free from gridlock.”

It comes after the call to get rid of car parking spaces in Broad Street and make it pedestrianised.

Thousands of drivers head through the junction at the end of the Botley Road everyday and the square includes the entrance to the train station.

Oxford Mail:

Frideswide Square during the revamp

The junction’s history dates back to the first major revamp in 1998, which then transformed a single road into its current formation.

Then, in 2015 the road layout was given another major revamp.

This time highway engineers came up with a scheme to help traffic move more freely, by introducing three main roundabouts with traffic heading along a central boulevard.

All the traffic lights were taken out and replaced with a large roundabout outside the train station and two mini roundabouts outside the Royal Oxford Hotel.