George Street should be pedestrianised again, according to survey

Part of George Street between its junctions with New Inn Hall Street and Magdalen Street was closed for half of August and the first week of September.

The closure, instigated by Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council, allowed restaurants on that stretch of the road road to have dining tables outside and boost their business after lockdown.

Since the road closure ended, Oxford City Council has been carrying out two surveys: one of residents who visited the street, and the other of businesses on the street, to find out their opinions of the scheme.

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The survey of 1,052 people revealed a good impression of the road closure, with 883 people (84.1 per cent) saying they thought it had a positive effect on George Street.

A majority, 875 people out of 1,028 who answered the question (85.1 per cent), said they thought the street should be permanently pedestrianised.

There was also strong consensus that pedestrianisation during warmer months would be welcome.

Only 8.8 per cent (69 of 787 responses) said George Street should never be pedestrianised again.

A separate survey of 12 businesses on the street was also carried out, of which eight were hospitality businesses that got involved in the trial, two were hospitality businesses that did not get involved in the trial, and two were other businesses in George Street.

They also largely back the pedestrianisation.

The council is now taking its case for more pedestrianisation to Oxfordshire County Council, which has the final say on all roads-related decisions in the city.

Picture: Ed Nix

Tom Hayes, the city council’s deputy leader said: “The overwhelming majority of residents and George Street businesses want us to extend the trial, and we share that ambition. But we will only be able to do this, while maintaining timetables for rerouted buses, if we reduce the overall traffic levels in Oxford city centre.

“Businesses need urgent solutions to the congestion problems because, as long as the problems go unsolved, our local businesses and the jobs that depend on them will suffer.”

Opposition groups on the council also welcomed the results of the survey.

Andrew Gant, the council's Lib Dem opposition leader said: “Liberal Democrats welcome this report. We would go much further in making our city more welcoming to pedestrians, cyclists and visitors with a comprehensive vision and strategy.

"Current policy from the Tory county and Labour city is a series of short-term, disconnected initiatives, some welcome in themselves, but with little overall vision."

And Green councillor Dick Wolff said: "This is encouraging. When residents and businesses experience pedestrianisation in action they overwhelmingly support it. The Council now needs to look at other possible schemes and tidy up the City Centre to improve the overall experience for pedestrians and cyclists."

Oxford’s two bus companies had to reroute some of their services which usually run along George Street.

Despite this, both Stagecoach and the Oxford Bus Company cautiously welcomed pedestrianisation on the street in the future, but said they would like to see a ‘holistic view’ of transport taken to help them.

They suggested measures to reduce congestion on other routes around the city would help buses.

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Chris Coleman, Managing Director of Stagecoach Oxfordshire, said: “We felt it was important to support the business community with the trial on George Street, but future ambition for further part-pedestrianisation must be tempered, as it will not be possible without further interventions to reduce traffic and congestion on the diverted routes.

“In order to continue to support the county's green recovery, it is vital bus travel is an attractive choice of transport, and this depends heavily on providing services that are punctual and reliable.”

Phil Southall, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Company, said: “For us the trial highlighted the need for a holistic view to be taken on City Centre bus and pedestrian movements and we are happy to engage in a review of this with other key delivery partners.

“A key factor in this will be providing our customers with greater certainty on journey times and bus gates could be one part of the solution to this and a key to running similar trials in the future.”

Though neither company mentioned bus gates directly, a county council proposal called Connecting Oxford includes new city centre bus gates alongside other measures to reduce traffic jams.

Plans to place two temporary bus gates in the city centre as part of Oxford's Covid recovery are due to be shelved tomorrow (October 13) by the county council.

The George Street pedestrianisation provided space for tables and chairs for Ask Italian, Black Sheep Coffee, Byron, Chozen Noodle, Franco Manca, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, O’Neill’s, Oxford Brunch Bar, The Grapes, and Wig and Pen.