28
August
2015
|
11:20
Europe/London

Plan your journeys when school year starts

Work is now well underway on Cutteslowe and Wolvercote roundabouts in north Oxford, Frideswide Square in Oxford and the A34 at Milton with schemes at Chilton and Hagbourne Hill in the early stages.

Traffic on the roads across the UK will increase significantly when the new school term starts, and Oxfordshire is no exception. This increase, combined with reduced road capacity in places like Cutteslowe and Wolvercote roundabouts, will lead to delays at peak times.

Consider alternatives

The county council is urging people who travel through any of these areas, particularly those who drive, to plan their journeys and consider alternative routes, time of travel and modes of transport.

Although the traffic management in locations such as Cutteslowe and Wolvercote roundabouts means that road capacity is reduced, leading to journeys that are far slower at peak times, more people using public transport would mean more space and more free movement for those who have no option but to drive.

Use online resources to plan your journey

There is a range of online help which makes journey planning easier for those unsure if they can make the switch.

www.traveline.info provides an easy A-to-B service which shows how to travel where you need to be by public transport, while Google maps provides live snapshots of congestion and journey times in key locations so that you can judge whether the bus or train would be a better option than sitting in traffic.

www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/travelchoices contains the latest information on all of our major improvement schemes that the county council is working on and includes links to other transport options such as walking, cycling and car sharing.

Weigh up travel options during roadworks

County Councillor David Nimmo Smith, Cabinet member for transport, said: “When the schools return we see a large increase in traffic on the roads, which means that journeys take longer and congestion increases.

“At the moment the county council is working on a number of major improvement schemes around Oxford and Oxfordshire, and the combination of those with the increased traffic during term time means that there will be significant disruption in some areas.

“Delays will be a fact of life on some routes for some time and so the options we want people to look at are travelling at different times, taking different routes or using different modes of transport. The alternative is to accept that journeys could take far longer and do nothing about it.

“The improvement work that we are doing at the moment aims to make sure that the congestion we are seeing now due to the work does not become a permanent feature of daily life due to demand exceeding road capacity.

“I really want people to try other options. The default position for many people is that there is no option but the car for them. But simply trying the bus, car sharing, cycling, walking or combining a number of modes for your journey can really make a difference.”

For more information

You can find out more about all of the major transport improvement schemes, and alternative way to travel, by visiting www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/travelchoices and clicking on the “major roadworks” section.

Oxfordshire County Council also provides regular email bulletins which you can sign up to online, and you can also keep up-to-date via Twitter @OxfordshireCC and Facebook.