The county council has urged Oxford residents to continue using Botley Road businesses despite the travel chaos.  

Botley Road closed at the rail bridge on April 11 and is currently only open to cyclists and pedestrians.

Network Rail has shut the road to allow for a multi-million-pound redevelopment of Oxford Station to place.

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The arterial route into Oxford is not due to reopen until October with the road set to close for a similar period next year.  

Electronic signs saying that the businesses on Botley Road are still open can be seen as you come off the A34 at the Botley Interchange.

 

But there are no specific signs on Botley Road itself alerting motorists to this fact.

Businesses in the area have raised concerns that the closure of the road at the rail bridge will have a significant negative impact on their trade.

The owner of Aldens MeatMaster in the Osney Mead Industrial Estate posted on Facebook prior to the closure asking for a sign that the businesses were still open.

He said: “We are open as usual as from Tuesday 11th despite Botley Road being ‘closed’.

“It would be nice if Oxford City Council and Network Rail put a sign up saying ‘businesses along Botley Road and Osney Mead open as normal.”

Oxford Mail:

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A new set of traffic lights was seen near to the rail bridge on Friday (April 14) and a traffic warden was directing traffic.

A Network Rail spokesperson explained that these lights were necessary to manage the flow of traffic.

Another traffic warden was also directing traffic close to the junction to Abbey Road which is in addition to the warden already stationed at the junction by St Frideswide’s Church.