Dr Andrew Pritchard has written a letter outlining where he thinks improvements could be made at the Botley Road rail bridge closure for pedestrians and cyclists.
After two weeks of the Botley Road blockade, we need to take stock.
Firstly, it is highly inconvenient, even for those who do not have difficulty walking or riding the simplest of bicycles.
Breaking bus services to town at the bridge can add half an hour or more to journeys, once one factors in the 5-7 minutes taken to walk through the grotty tunnel, followed by waiting for your bus to arrive and leave on the other side.
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The army of under-employed ‘marshals’ at either end doing little more than re-direct any remaining traffic that manages to reach the bridge contrasts with the rare appearance of workers on the road beneath the railway, where all that seems to have happened is that three rather narrow trenches have been dug, and filled in again.
Similar trenches are frequently dug across other roads to install or repair services, but in almost every case this is done in two halves, with one-way traffic being maintained across half of the road, often using steel or composite plates across half of the trench to support the traffic, while the other half is worked on.
Why is this proven technique not being used beneath the Botley Road bridge?
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Network Rail’s website “Oxfordshire Connect” rarely gives any information about future works or progress, suggesting that there is no overall plan. Readers of a recently published book How Big Things Get Done, by Oxford professor Bent Flyvbjerg and a colleague, may identify the Botley Road as a “think fast, act slow” project, where lack of proper detailed planning and modelling leads to cost overruns and delays in completion, as with the Great Western Electrification.
Our councils don’t seem to want to know about our concerns.
Next week there are elections
Dr Andrew Pritchard
North Hinksey
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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF
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