Access to Barton Park

The first phase of housing in Barton Park is being marketed under the brand name Mosaics Oxford. The marketing suite and show home have been open for about a month, but there was some confusion locally over whether the development and the marketing office could be safely accessed on foot or by bicycle. This is particularly interesting because of the ‘low car, bike friendly’ intentions of the original development and the planning permission that was given.

I’m pleased to report that a visit today confirmed that pedestrians and cyclists can get into Barton Park and the marketing offices safely. The security fencing on Foxwell Drive is open for people on foot or on bikes to pass through, bringing them to the crossing lights on the A40. Anyone approaching on the A40 cycle path has free access to the same place.

There are three toucan crossings, one each across the two main carriageways of the A40, and one covering the exit lane from Barton Park onto the north (Headington roundabout bound) side of the by-pass. All are working.

I was able to cross the A40 on my bike without waiting too long for the traffic to stop. The only part of the process that felt uncomfortable was coming back to the Northway side where you find yourself waiting on a rather narrow island in the middle of the A40 with vehicles blasting down the hill at speeds well above 50mph passing you within a few feet.

While I was at it I thought I’d check out Mosaics’ claim about how close they are to all the Headington action.

On my shopping bike and without getting out of the saddle, from the Foxwell Drive junction via Old Headington and Old High Street to Headington shops traffic lights took 7½ minutes. So yes, not bad. To either end of the JR would be less.

Ground-level view of Barton Park, 08/10/2017
Ground-level view of Barton Park
Plenty of paint on the A40
Plenty of paint on the A40
Access from Foxwell Drive on foot and by bike
Access from Foxwell Drive on foot and by bike
A40 crossing - south side
A40 crossing – south side
A40 crossing, north side
A40 crossing, north side

Don’t mention Barton

This story was first published in HH 326 on 17 July 2017.

Now here’s a strange thing. The first houses being built in @BartonPark_ are being marketed under the name “Mosaics Oxford”. The marketing campaign has emerged on twitter as @Mosaics_Oxford and they have a website which was first registered in April last year — mosaicsoxford.co.uk.  The copyright tag on the website shows that Mosaics is another face of the builders of Phase 1, Hill. Mosaics Oxford is, they claim, a “vibrant new community”, “nestled next to Oxford’s bustling city centre”. Devoted readers will recall that an important selling point of Barton Park was how the new development would integrate with existing Barton to their mutual benefit. Strange then that the word ‘Barton’ (with or without the ‘Park’) doesn’t appear anywhere in Mosaics’ sales pitch. The street address of the marketing office (or ‘suite’, as they prefer to style it) is just a postcode which places it in St Aldates.

Barton Park progress

I went over to see what was happening where the Barton Park access road is being built into Foxwell Drive from the A40. Work is obviously progressing, and workmen were actually plantiing trees either side of the new link. Looking over to the Barton Park site I was struck by the size of it – it’s one thing to see it on a map, another for real on the ground. There seem to be new trees on the Barton Park side of the A40 too.

I took a couple of pictures. They’re not great, but for what it’s worth here they are.

A40 link road into Foxwell Drive
A40 link road into Foxwell Drive
The Barton Park site from the A40
The Barton Park site from the A40