Traffic in Oxford which reached “horrendous” levels after flooding could have been eased by temporarily opening some of the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), councillors have claimed.
Oxfordshire County Council has been accused of showing a lack of "sympathy and respect” to motorists by refusing to open any of the city’s LTNs, which block cars travelling through certain streets in East Oxford and Cowley.
The calls to allow vehicles through LTNs come after heavy traffic built up on Oxford’s main artery roads on Monday evening (January 8) following the closure of Abingdon Road, which was submerged in floodwater.
The county and city councils announced late afternoon yesterday that the road had reopened to traffic after being closed since Friday.
But the road remains closed from Old Abingdon Road to Weirs Lane so fire crews can pump water away. Diversions are in place.
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The closure of Abingdon Road had caused rush hour congestion in St Clement’s, Iffley Road, and the Plain roundabout.
“Opening the LTNs would give people in Oxford a different way to travel rather than on the main artery roads which are so clogged up,” said Ajaz Rehmann, an Oxford city councillor for Lye Valley.
The Independent councillor suggested opening Cornwallis Road, near Florence Park, and Bartholomew Road in Temple Cowley to ease traffic issues.
He said: “They are just bus cameras, so all it would take is opening up and telling people they won’t be fined for going through there.
“Because of the disastrous floodings, and now that schools are back, the traffic has been horrendous.”
Mr Rehmann claimed the council “just doesn't care about East Oxford” after similar traffic restrictions in Oxford High Street were suspended from Sunday until yesterday.
“The council is being ignorant,” he said. “It is showing no sympathy and respect for residents of East Oxford, only those in the city centre.”
But the council’s highways chief insisted that opening LTNs would only fill residential streets with traffic, which he described as “illogical”.
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“Mitigations in terms of highways management are operational decisions based on circumstances, which change rapidly and are unpredictable,” said Andrew Gant, the Liberal Democrat cabinet member for highway management.
“However, the suggestion that it would somehow help to fill residential roads and roads outside schools in East Oxford with traffic, in the first week of school term and at the darkest time of the year, is illogical.
“It is even more important to keep those streets safe for people."
But Mr Gant, who represents the Wolvercote and Summertown division, was accused of allowing “traffic chaos” by his opposite number Liam Walker, a Conservative councillor and shadow highways chief.
“Councillor Gant should temporarily remove some of the LTN bollards to help reduce levels of congestion in Oxford whilst these key routes are closed," said the councillor for Hanborough and Minster Lovell.
“Everyone is fed up of sitting in Gant's Gridlock now.”
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