Calls for flexibility over Oxford LTNs
It comes after gridlock in the city centre
Councillors have urged the county council to be more flexible over opening LTN roads to help ease traffic congestion in emergencies after a major traffic incident on Black Friday, (November 29).
Motorists in Oxford were stuck in traffic for hours due to series of incidents outside and within the city’s roads.
While county councillors Trish Elphinstone and Imade Edosomwan said that the LTNs should have been opened on this occasion, the county council said that this would have had a minimal impact on traffic.
Councillor Trish Elphinstone, who represents the Rose Hill & Littlemore division, said: “It was very hard for people to get around.
“Allowances should have been made to switch off the ANPR cameras and ease congestion in the city for the day.
“The county council did nothing.
“Switching off the cameras could have let off steam.”
Littlemore resident Lesley McCourt said that she “had no choice” but to drive through an ANPR camera on Crowell Road and face a fine, because she had to go to a rehearsal that evening.
She said: “We are being ignored by the council.
“That was an emergency situation. They could have eased the traffic flow by letting cars through Crowell Road.”
Councillor Imade Edosomwan, who represents Leys, called the traffic on Friday a “missed opportunity” for the county council.
He added: “Oxfordshire County Council could have opened some roads due to the accident just for today.
“The worst part of this issue is during consultation they said if there’s an emergency or an accident, the LTNS could open for free flow of traffic.”
When approached for comment, a spokesperson from the county council said: “Any temporary change to traffic restrictions such as LTNs is at the discretion of Oxfordshire County Council’s Network Management team.
“It is the county council’s policy to open up LTNs if requested by a ‘blue light’ service; if there is a road closure which will cut a community off from the wider road network (such as flooding); or if there is special planned event with suitable legal order in place.
“None of this was the case.
“Given the scale of the congestion, the council’s view was that relaxation would have brought very little (if any) benefit to the network, while bringing added disruption to residents who live in areas affected by LTNs.”
They added that the Traffic Control Centre “played an active role in helping to minimise impacts” by co-ordinating incidents, telling the police about new ones as they occurred, running 39 signal strategies, updating bus companies and other stakeholders, keeping Emergency Planning teams informed, updating electronic traffic signs and posting updates on @OxonTravel on X.
The incidents include a vehicle fire on the A423, a traffic collision on the A34 at Botley, and further congestion on A34 caused by ongoing incidents in morning at Milton Interchange and at M40 junctions.
This was compounded by Black Friday sales in the city centre.