Construction to start on improvements to Witney High Street
Improvements to provide a safer and more accessible Witney High Street and Market Square featuring wider, higher quality footways and improved crossing points are due to start construction soon.
The Oxfordshire County Council project will create a more welcoming public realm that encourages more people to visit and spend time in the town centre, makes walking, wheeling and cycling easier and more pleasant for everyone, and complements the town’s history and character. It supports the existing traffic arrangement on Witney High Street and Market Square.
The scheme will provide:
- new seating areas, trees and planting
- resurfacing of approximately 2,000m2 of existing footways and creating over 1,000m2 of new footway space
- 10 marked disabled persons’ parking places
- flexible loading arrangements for businesses in the town centre
- a new, additional bus stop for community transport. Taxi access will be permitted in the shared space after 5pm on weekdays and after 2pm on Saturdays, with a 16-metre taxi bay provided at all times.
- a new traffic priority arrangement for the High Street/Welch Way junction including a central island to support cyclists making right turns. This will help to make road users' intentions clearer at the junction, making it safer.
Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: “The Witney High Street project makes effective use of the town centre space to accommodate multiple users. It has developed over a long period of time, with several rounds of consultation and construction is due to start in May.”
Construction is due to start in early May 2026 and be completed in November 2026. The works will be undertaken in phases, starting on the western side of the street, with traffic movements restricted to southbound only during this phase.
Works will then then switch to the eastern side of the street when traffic will only be permitted northbound on the High Street and Market Square between the Corn Street and Welch Way junctions.
Safe pedestrian and wheelchair/mobility-aided access as well as access to the shops, food outlets and businesses will be maintained throughout the works.
While bus stop and taxi rank locations will be maintained when possible, during some phases of the works, bus stops will need to be relocated to Langdale Gate and Welch Way, with the taxi rank temporarily relocated outside The Angel Inn on Market Square.
There may be short periods where some loading and disabled persons' parking places on the High Street and by the Market Square may not be available. Appropriate areas for loading during each phase of the works will be communicated to businesses with regular updates provided.
Shoppers can continue to park in the Woolgate car park near the Market Square and in Marriott's Walk. A site compound for the works will be set up in Zone G of the Woolgate car park, with long stay parking bays relocated to adjacent areas of the car park.
The final phase will be the installation of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to help reduce the number of non-exempt motor vehicles going through the restrictions on the High Street and Market Square.
The council is hosting a drop-in information event where members of the public can view the final designs for the project and learn about the construction programme. This will take place on Wednesday 29 April, 2pm - 7pm, at the Witney Corn Exchange.
Background information on the project and plans showing the relocation of services during the works is available on the council’s digital engagement and consultation platform, Let’s talk Oxfordshire.
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