OXFORD City Council has unveiled its blueprint to drive more motorists out of the city.

In a response to the county council’s transport strategy, it revealed its own proposals to dramatically cut petrol and diesel cars in the city centre and beef up how its park and rides operate.

It sees them turning into dropoff points for shopping deliveries and school children, plus bases for people to work from.

The council would also like to see parking permits across the whole of the city and possibly cars banned from either Woodstock or Banbury roads in favour of buses. The first Park and Ride site in the country was opened at Redbridge, Oxford in 1973, and the proposals envisage them as being the cornerstone of “their evolution”.

The council said the sites could also be connected to the city centre by light rail, such as trams. City council executive board member for transport John Tanner said there were also hopes of a new Park and Ride to serve East Oxford, but no detailed plans or ideas for a location had yet been put forward.

The city council backed transport proposals for up to 2031 put forward by Oxfordshire County Council, but senior councillors said more “radical” solutions were needed.

It called for better services to hospitals and business parks in eastern areas of Oxford, by expanding Park and Ride facilities and introducing extra restrictions to stop commuters parking in residential streets.

And councillors on the executive board also claimed that the introduction of trams should not be ruled out.

Mr Tanner said: “We want the county to focus on improving transport for pedestrians, cyclists and bus users and that will inevitably mean more restrictions on cars.

“A balance has to be struck, but with a growing population and more journeys being made we have to re-examine the way we all travel.

“Car users need to be discouraged from coming to the city centre by better alternatives, as well as systems such as bus gates and bus lanes to give public transport priority.”

The city council said bus tunnels proposed by the county council were not possible in Oxford “without significant damage to heritage assets, including archaeology”.

It instead proposed that the centre of the city could be served by buses travelling to “transit points”, linked by a circuit of buses using St Aldate’s, Oxpens Road, Hythe Bridge Street, St Giles and St Cross Road.

The transit points would be located at Oxford Station, Gloucester Green, Speedwell Street and the Plain and be served by “rapid”

bus routes, using buses like the “bendy buses” introduced at one stage in London, to the Park and Rides and other key areas.

Those with mobility problems such as the disabled, elderly or women with pushchairs, could take smaller electric buses from the transit points to get to the most central streets, it added.

Mr Tanner stressed that although it was hoped throughtraffic in the city centre would be reduced, the council did not want to target “people doing business by car” such as plumbers, estate agents or postmen.

Access to streets such as Oxpens Road for shoppers would be maintained, “but not encouraged”.

As well as citywide parking permits, the council backed a work place parking levy for businesses.

Under proposals already put forward by the county council, the measures against cars would be coupled with improvements to bus services and cycle routes.

This would involve closing Park and Ride facilities within Oxford’s ring road, but the city council opposed that move.

The city council’s proposals were put forward in a 66-page document produced by consultancy firm Alan Baxter, at a cost of £15,000.

What the county council suggested:

  • Bus tunnels by 2035, favoured over more expensive rail alternatives
  • Closure of inner city Park and Rides
  • Freight centres at disused Park and Rides
  • New “super premium” routes for cyclists across Oxford
  • Pedestrianisation of Queen Street and George Street

What the city council suggested:

  • Trams to replace bus services
  • Reopening of Cowley Branch Line, with a station eventually at Grenoble Road to serve proposed housing schemes
  • Electric shuttle bus for people with mobility issues in the city centre
  • Expansion of Park and Rides to include new services
  • City centre bicycle hire scheme

 

Teacher welcomes safety improvements for cyclists

A TEACHER has welcomed a push to improve safety for cyclists in Oxford.

Cherwell School cycling co-ordinator Tony Gray said Oxford City Council’s proposals to give cyclists in the city priority over cars highlighted a “major issue”.

More than 1,000 of the school’s pupils are estimated to cycle to school, but Mr Gray said traffic calming measures on roads were needed.

He said: “Across the city there are certain basic things that could be done, which are not cheap, but are desperately needed.”

Examples included the roundabouts along Cherwell Drive, used by pupils travelling from Headington, as well as the section of Banbury Road approaching the junction of Marston Ferry Road from the north, where the road narrows, he said.

Mr Gray added: “Bikes there are sometimes pushed on to the footpath.”

The city council’s call for better cycling provision was part of its response to the Oxford Transport Strategy, proposed by Oxfordshire County Council.

It has also called for buses to be given priority above cars on major routes into the city.

Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach Oxfordshire both said they supported giving priority to buses.

Phil Southall, the managing director of Oxford Bus Company, said: “Nearly two-thirds of all the people in the centre of Oxford got there by bus so it’s vital that the crucial role of buses is recognised and understood.”

And Stagecoach Oxfordshire managing director Martin Sutton added: “We are encouraged that the big issues are being discussed, and Stagecoach is keen to play a continuing role in that debate.”

But taxi driver Colin Dobson, of Oxford, warned that provision for people to be able to use taxis in the city centre should be maintained.

He said: “Many of my customers are elderly and disabled and I would hope that any scheme did not limit the choices available for people going to the city centre. But I welcome giving priority to public transport.”