Oxford,
25
September
2017
|
17:00
Europe/London

New look for Broad Street junction

Work to overhaul a junction in Oxford city centre has been completed.

The new-look junction of Broad Street, Parks Road, Holywell Street and Catte Street now features a ‘junction table’ with roundabout style surfacing similar to those in Frideswide Square. This has replaced the old traffic-lights which were beyond repair.

The work cost in the region of £65,000 with the university providing £35,000, the city council £15,000 and the balance being paid for by the county council. The work itself was carried out by the city council.

Enhancement of the Broad Street area

The new layout addresses the need for traffic control and also means that potential future enhancement of the area can happen without the need to remove a set of expensive new traffic lights.

Nick Brown, Chair of the Buildings and Estates Sub-committee, University of Oxford:

"The Broad Street junction is a key gateway to the University's Science area and the Clarendon Building and Weston Library fronting it are major attractions in their own right.

“The University used its Green Travel Fund (generated from parking income paid by University staff) to support this substantial improvement to the safety and convenience of walking and cycling for the University community, local people & visitors, whilst also creating a more attractive street scene in keeping with this historic part of Oxford."

County Councillor Yvonne Constance, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Environment, said: “The new look is far more in keeping with the area and the junction table reduces the speed of traffic.

“People who travel through the junction have been getting used to the new layout during the construction and the feedback has been positive. Hopefully now it is all finished people will really see the benefits.”

Oxford City Council has contributed £15,000 towards the project. Councillors Dan Iley-Williamson and Alex Hollingsworth contributed £2,500 each from their CIL (Community Instructure Levy) budget, and the remaining funds have come from the city council’s Cycle Oxford budget, which was created in 2012 to improve cycling infrastructure across the city.

Easier for all road users

Councillor Dan Iley-Williamson, Oxford City Council member for Holywell Ward, said: “This busy junction is within my ward and, since I became a councillor in 2016, I have been asking for improvements to be made to it, particularly for cyclists.

“I’m delighted to have been able to contribute towards this project, and that the city council, county council and University of Oxford have come together to help make it happen. This will be a real improvement and will make it easier for all road users to navigate what is one of the city's most beautiful streets."