Council presented with petition against HGV 'rat-run'

Heavy lorries are using Highworth Road and Shrivenham Road as a rat-run to avoid using the A419 and White Hart Roundabout when travelling from South Marston to the A420 and on to Oxford.

And 600 people told councillors that this is unacceptably dangerous and needs fixing.

Norman Jeffery, who started the petition earlier this year, presented it to the full council saying: “HGVs from companies based at South Marston are using the A361 Highworth Road, then the Shrivenham Road to access the A420.

“The most outrageous aspect of this is that their depots are no more than one junction from the A420 along the A419.”

To use the cut-through, the lorries must make a very sharp right turn at the Fox roundabout at the southern edge of Highworth, and then drive past two schools Warneford secondary and Southfield Primary School.

Mr Jefferey said: “I cannot emphasise how dangerous this is. Both the school fully support this petition. The Primary school has told its pupils to come to the back entrance, but pupils can go to either the front or back entrance at the secondary.”

Mr Jeffery told the councillors of a time when a lorry got so close to a house on the road it knocked the Christmas lights off the front, and provided pictures showing heavy goods vehicles on the pavement of Shrivenham Road: “because that’s the only way two lorries can pass on the roads.”

Supported by ward councillors, the petition called for a weight restriction to be placed on Shrivenham Road to prevent the HGVs from using it.

But the cabinet member for Highways, Councillor Chris Watts said the issue is not so easy to fix.

He said: “Weight restrictions don’t apply to local businesses, but to through traffic, and would not apply to the businesses using the roads.

“You wouldn’t get the result you want.”

Cllr Watts said it was important to know why lorries were avoiding the shorter and easier trip on the A419 and A420 and said it might be because they are trying to avoid the railway bridge crossing the main road with a height of 4.8m.

The council approved his proposed response to the petition: “That the head of highways and transportation be requested to gather and assess all relevant information on current HGV movements, consult with Oxfordshire, consider the impact on alternative routes and consider other options to address the concerns raised, and submit a report to Cabinet with recommendations in relation to this request.”