By Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have announced plans to install new temporary bus gates in Oxford.
In recent weeks, Oxford campaigners have been vocal in their support for installing bus gates at various sites around Oxford. The groups in support of bus gates claim that bus gates will help ‘build oxford back, better.’
“Bus gates give us a chance to build Oxford back better as we recover; they will help sustain the recovery of the bus operators, reduce congestion where they are located and help offer safer roads for cyclists. Residents have indicated that they want safer streets with less traffic as part of the recovery and this will be one of the steps forward to achieving this goal.”
Councillor Yvonne Constance, Cabinet Member for Environment, Oxfordshire County Council
The University of Oxford has also expressed its support for the measure. You can see our news about the protests here.
As a result of this action and the plans by Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council for the recovery of sustainable transport services, two temporary bus gates are scheduled to be installed during August.
The exact location of the two new bus gates is still yet to be decided, but due to the fact they are a temporary setup, they are able to be moved after installation and in response to community feedback. Initially – it is believed they will be installed:
- On Hythe Bridge Street or Worcester Street, between Frideswide Square and Beaumont Street
- On St Cross Road or South Parks Road, between Parks Road and Manor Road.
In addition, a third bus gate is being considered for Thames Street or Oxpens Road and may be introduced if monitoring of the two initial bus gates suggests this is necessary and desirable.
Bus gates do not specifically prevent access to areas of the city, instead they aim to redirect traffic through a different route, with traffic being unable to use the city centre as a ‘through-route’ to onwards destinations.
“The introduction of these two temporary bus gates is a positive step towards more sustainable active travel patterns. Covid-19 has given us a window on what could be a positive future – one with dramatically fewer cars on our roads, safer streets, cleaner air and less damage to our environment. With less congestion slowing journey times, bus travel is an attractive mode of transport for reaching the city centre and we look forward to seeing the positive effects the two new gates will have on our services.”
Chris Coleman, Stagecoach Oxfordshire Managing Director
The new experimental bus gates do not require prior consultation or modelling before being installed, however they will be monitored and a consultation will be launched to assess their impact.
The gates will be implemented during temporary traffic regulation orders (TTROs), and using the additional powers and guidance issued to local authorities by the Department for Transport to assist in the delivery of emergency active travel measures and other coronavirus recovery schemes.
