Bit long but needs saying, There were up to 11 of us at times having a drink in
a local pub last night discussing this for part of our evening out. We were all
in agreement about several key factors all of which help to cause the
irritations mentioned in this thread, and indeed in others. These are-
1) Sometimes forgetting this is a MAIN route into and out of Oxford โ London
Road - including the hospitals, Brooks, and various Headington based
organisations and businesses. Like it or not it is, and it is needed.
2) Trying to combine a โvibrant and variedโ shopping and recreational
experience [ the shops, the cafรฉs, the restaurants etc. ] actually on this main
route.
3) The improvements to Headington's main road through the shops which although
very well done have partly been a cause of the increased delays and irritations
to both drivers and cyclists, explanation coming further down. The loss of the
subway which did not delay traffic, although not well liked by some, did not
help as it created a new road crossing to replace it.
4) The Windmill road traffic lights which seem to have one of the worst
programmed change cycles encountered [ all 11 of us unanimous on that ]
5) To single out the buses for causing so many problems. Without the buses
there would be even more cars jamming up Headington. I hate to say it but some
of us cyclists can be as pig headed as is alleged about bus drivers, and they
have a much bigger vehicle to drive safely.
We had many ideas and thoughts but we all had to admit there is no easy
solution. Simple as that. However referring back to 3) above we all agreed that
there is ONE main cause of the increased gridlock through Headington every
morning and evening โ daytimes are not much better โ and this is all the
crossings and traffic lights. Just think about this-
>From the traffic lights/pedestrian crossing halfway along Bury Knowle Park, to
the traffic lights close to the garage/Britannia pub โ Osler Road junction,
there are five lights and or crossings in a point 3 of a mile, approx 480
meter distance. On average thatโs one in less than every 100 meters, result?
Well you already know if you are a commuter.
In fact 3 of these lights and/or crossings from the Bury Knowle park
lights/crossing to Windmill Road lights are in a .1 of a mile, a mere 160
meters! Now if that is not going to cause gridlock on any busy main road
nothing would, but it most definitely does.
The bottom line was, after our slightly heated debate, none of us could work
out why so many crossings were needed in such a short distance. There is one
obvious one that could be removed with little impact on pedestrians.
The ending comments were based around the fact that a โvibrant and variedโ
shopping and recreational experience combined with one of Oxfords busiest roads
will always cause problems as the two just do not gel together well.
We then decided to enjoy the rest of our night out, in Headington, and forget
the daily gridlock...........until Monday morning at least......