Major transport improvement work to begin in January 2015
Schemes on London Road, the Plain in Oxford City and Milton Interchange will all get underway, marking the latest phase of investment in the county’s transport infrastructure and future economic success.
Investment in the county’s transport system
County Councillor David Nimmo Smith, Cabinet member for transport, said: “There is no doubt that the amount of investment in the county’s roads at the moment is on a level never seen before.
“The level of growth we are expecting in the county means that demand would continue to outstrip capacity on our roads without the action we are taking now. in addition, to minimise disruption, these works need to be complete before major redevelopments such as Westgate.
“In the long term the work that we are doing now will bring major benefits for the transport system by improving traffic flows and addressing some long standing maintenance issues. However, there is no doubt that these works will have an impact on people’s journeys.
Work is now complete on the £7m A423 Southern Bypass Scheme at Hinksey and Kennington Roundabouts. The scheme has increased the capacity of Kennington Roundabout by up to 30% to cope with current and future traffic demand, as well as completing refurbishment of four bridges and the carriageway surface between Hinksey and Heyford Interchanges.
Ducklington Lane improvements in Witney are now substantially complete improving access to Witney at this busy junction
Plan your journeys
Councillor Nimmo Smith explained: “The advice to anyone who travels in and around the areas where work is being done is to plan your journeys in advance. Varying your journey times or seeking other ways to travel could help you avoid the worst of the delays.”
The county council’s Travel Choices webpages are the best place to visit for updates on the work, travel information, alternative modes of transport, and information on all major schemes in Oxfordshire. To find out more visit: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/travelchoices
You can also sign up to receive regular email updates on progress of all major transport schemes via the individual scheme web pages or by visiting www.eepurl.com/WHXxL
London Road phase two
On January 5, work will start on the second phase of work on London Road, Oxford.
This phase of the £2.1m scheme will involve the long-awaited resurfacing and reconstruction of London Road from the junction with Wharton Road to the junction with Northfield Road - a distance of approximately 500 metres.
As well as providing a new road surface, engineers will also be digging out and building new foundations to ensure that increased levels of bus use will not damage the carriageway in future. The work will be done under temporary two-way traffic signals meaning that the road will remain open, although capacity will be reduced.
Work on the first phase will continue until February 2015. This phase includes the construction of the bus and cycle improvements at the Green Road roundabout and on London Road in the area of the Lyndworth Close junction.
More information on the London Road scheme is available online at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/A420LondonRoad
The Plain
The Plain is a busy five-arm roundabout in Oxford with high bus flows and a history of cyclist casualties. The improvements at The Plain and at Longwall Street will aid cyclists travelling on this east / west corridor and help boost the county council’s ambition to increase the use of sustainable transport on this route.
The work will include widening of footways, introducing shared loading and parking facilities, enhanced entry treatments onto the roundabout and reducing the width of the carriageway around the roundabout. In addition the footways over Magdalen Bridge will be renewed. Improvement work have already been completed at Longwall Street and High Street and include the widening of the cycle lanes on Magdalen Bridge, early cycle release phase (east bound) and junction signal timings change at the Longwall Street junction.
The total cost of the scheme is £1.3m with the majority of the work linked to improving cycling facilities at this busy junction with funding of £965,000 being provided by the Department for Transport and further support from Oxford City Council. In order to minimise the disruption for the travelling public, the county council is including maintenance work.
Work is expected to be complete in Spring 2015. More information on the Plain is available at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/theplain
Milton Interchange
In January 2015 work will begin on a £10.6m scheme to create a “hamburger” style roundabout at Milton Interchange, which allows straight through traffic. Additional capacity will also be created to improve Science Vale UK Enterprise Zone’s connections with the A34 and the wider national road network.
The project has been designed to enable the local road infrastructure to meet the demands of the projected increase in jobs and traffic in the area, with an additional 14,000 homes and 16,000 jobs expected by 2029. Harwell Oxford and Milton Park have Enterprise Zone status, aiming to deliver 8,500 jobs by 2015. This scheme is therefore key to delivering growth and is a priority for the county council and Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The ‘hamburger’ link at Milton Interchange will take traffic from the westbound A4130 heading onto the northbound A34 towards Oxford. The Milton Park Link will also be widened eastbound on the A4130 and southbound on the A34 off-slip approaches to the circulatory to four lanes. This scheme is also linked to a project to deliver north facing slips at Chilton junction to the south on the A34 to accommodate better access to Harwell Oxford.
More information on the Milton Interchange is available online at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/A34Milton