buses

New Bus Routes for Headington

TonyOX3

We’ve known for a while that there were plans for new bus routes in Headington with an announcement expected at the begining of August. Although there’s still not been any official announcement, the eagle-eyed @HeadingtonNews spotted the new timetables on the @Stagecoach_Ox website.

Starting on 23 September the 700 service will be extended to Kidlington, serving Water Eaton P&R and the JR, Nuffield and Churchill Hospitals. New service 800 will run between Thornhill P&R and the JR Hospital every 20 minutes, and new service 900 will link Thornhill, the Nuffield and Churchill at the same frequency. Like the existing 700, both the 800 and 900 services will run Monday to Friday only. See the route maps and timetables here:

These files are all pdfs. You can get to these pages, and to interactive maps of the routes, by entering “Stagecoach Oxfordshire” in the ‘Operator’ box on this page.

These new buses will be welcome in many respects as they offer the possibility of fewer journeys by car to the hospitals. However, whether enough journeys will be avoided to compensate for six more buses an hour in each direction running along the London Road and through Headington shops is bound to be queried. Maybe we’ll learn more of the transport planners’ thinking when the official announcement is made.

The most controversial, indeed unwelcome aspect is that the 800 is routed down Osler Road. I find this astonishing, and it’s bound to provoke antagonism locally. The problems of congestion on Osler Road are well-known, and adding three more buses each way every hour is asking for trouble. Whether this is Stagecoach’s idea or the County transport planners I don’t know, but whoever pushed the idea is out of touch with local conditions and the community’s feelings.

None of these new developments has so far entered the discussions around @OxfordshireCC‘s Headington Transport Strategy about which I wrote last week.

London Road and Headington Roundabout bus lanes

TonyOX3

In two earlier posts here and here I wrote about the County Council’s initial proposals for what was going to be the third phase of improvements to the London Road, covering the stretch from Bury Knowle park to the A40 Green Road roundabout.

Following public consultation and general unhappiness with the proposals, and presumably under pressure to come up with as cheap a scheme as possible, the County has now put revised plans out to consultation. The consultation is announced and the scheme briefly described on the County’s website here. Comments need to be submitted by Thursday 25 July.

I have abbreviated the Council’s announcement as follows:

Several difference [sic] options have been considered but have been rejected either because of the small benefit to bus users, the cost of the works, the impact on footways and cycle facilities or the opposition of local residents.

The new scheme addresses these issues. The main elements are:

  • short length of new bus lane on the A40 right up to the roundabout,
  • short length of road widening on the London Road near the roundabout,
  • moving the first inbound bus stop closer to the roundabout,
  • lengthening the last outbound bus stop on the London Road.

This scheme has significant advantages over the earlier options:

  • large savings in journey times for inbound buses and coaches,
  • cheaper,
  • avoids losing the cycleway on the north side footway and minimises the impact on trees,
  • traffic is able to pass buses waiting at the relocated first inbound bus stop.

Both the new inbound bus stop and the extended outbound bus stop will be made long enough to hold two buses and will be designated as Bus Stop Clearways. This means that general traffic should not be parked at the bus stops and buses will be able to pull up against the kerb.

This project forms part of a wider package of measures to improve transport choices along this route, including the Thornhill P&R expansion, the Oxonbike cycle hire scheme and a new bus service linking Headington’s hospitals with Water Eaton and Thornhill, due to begin in late September.

Once approved, construction should take place between January and June 2014. This should be followed immediately by the reconstruction of the existing inbound bus lane between Gladstone Road and Wharton Road. A strategy for maintenance of the remaining lengths of London Road is currently being reviewed.

The technical drawing showing the proposed changes is available from the County’s website and I have copied it here. If like me you find it difficult to analyse papers like this on a computer screen you will be interested to know that there will be a drop-in consultation from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday 18th July at Headington Quarry Village Hall (Jubilee Room – entrance in Margaret Road). County officers will be there to explain the scheme and take your comments.

Headington Transport Forum

TonyOX3

Riding the wave of enthusiasm for local action groups Headington Action @HeadingtonA organised an open meeting last night (Thursday) to discuss forming a group which would bring together a number of interested individuals and organisations to develop an integrated transport strategy for Headington.

About 18 people attended with representatives from @cyclox, @HeadingtonA, the local Car Club (car-sharing), Headington Cycling Group, Friends of Old Headington and other residents’ groups as well as individuals with particular concerns and interests. Patrick Coulter (Headington Action) chaired the meeting. He explained how he thought a Transport group could fit in with the Neighbourhood Plan process started earlier in the week. Everyone agreed that a joined-up approach to Headington’s transport problems was urgently needed, and equally there was little sign that either the County or the City Councils were likely to deliver an integrated plan without strong input from local residents, businesses, employers and transport operators.

There was some discussion about terms of reference for the group and it was agreed to meet again on Friday 22 March when it was hoped to make progress on formalising the group and its objectives.

I will link to the notes of the meeting when they’re available.