Oxford Traffic-Free City Centre Plan

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Transport bosses have paved the way for the pedestrianisation of Queen Street in Oxford by launching a radical scheme to transform the city centre (links below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/3775581.Traffic_ban_to__transform__city/

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/3774078.Traffic_free_plan_to_transform_city/

County Hall bosses today launched the Transform Oxford initiative, with the pedestrianisation of Queen Street as its crowning glory.

Bus stops would be removed next summer ahead of the total removal of buses at a date yet to be fixed.

Traffic bans in George Street and Magdalen Street would start in the summer of 2010, with pedestrianisation of Broad Street the same year.

As part of the proposal to redesign Magdalen Street a bus-turning circle will be installed at the city end of St Giles.

In 2011, highways engineers plan to remodel the Frideswide Square junction outside Oxford station, removing traffic lights and introducing roundabouts to improve traffic flow.

Oxford's medieval road network makes it difficult to introduce radical new transport schemes and cater for the needs of cars, buses, pedestrians and cyclists.

[Chris from Nailsea]

These proposals have received a 'cautious welcome', according to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page), in a detailed article.

For the full story, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7682202.stm

[Lee]

Further article link.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/3779734.Ban_on_traffic____is_going_ahead_/

[stebbo]

Well as a former student at Oxford for four years and, a good few years later, a resident for two years something needs to be done. I recall being able to leave my office in central Oxford to walk home up the Woodstock Road to Summertown on a Friday evening, start off at the same time as a bus in St. Giles and beat the bus to the turn for Oakthorpe Road (bt St. Edwards School). Ridiculous.

[Lee]

Giant bendy-buses ferrying people through the city centre could hold the key to plans to pedestrianise central Oxford (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/3787357.City_may_get_bendy_buses/

Oxfordshire County Council transport officers say one way to reduce the number of buses entering the city centre would be to have a fleet of the high-capacity buses shuttling passengers to and from a new terminus near Magdalen Bridge or South Park.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmmm.  Those medieval city planners were just so short-sighted, weren't they? 

[Lee]

County council plans to pedestrianise the centre of Oxford have been branded a ^half-baked election stunt^ by senior city councillors (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/3812381.City_squawks_at__cuckoo__road_plan/

City leader Bob Price, deputy leader Ed Turner and Colin Cook, the board member for city development, said they had long supported the general idea, but attacked Oxfordshire County Council for the release of its vision ^ which they branded as ^Cloud Cuckoo Land^ ahead of next year^s elections.

The trio claimed the county^s scheme lacked substance.