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ITEM EX10 - ANNEX 2

EXECUTIVE – 5 MARCH 2002

HEADINGTON AND MARSTON AREA TRANSPORT STRATEGY (HAMATS)

IMPROVEMENTS FOR CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS

1. The consultants’ proposals for cycle and pedestrian improvements, as described in their "Recommended Strategy" Report and illustrated in the Figures, generally received a high level of support. The matters that were raised during the consultation were largely matters of detail. These will be considered further during the development and design stages of individual proposals.
2. A composite plan has been prepared combining these proposals, additional suggestions put forward during the consultation and the Local Plan proposals, to create a network of cycle and pedestrian routes across the area. It will be displayed at the meeting and is recommended for inclusion in the strategy.

ENHANCEMENT OF BUS SERVICES

3. Improved bus services are a key component of the strategy. Several issues were raised through the consultation that have been pursued further in discussion with the main bus companies, Oxford Brookes University and the Hospital Trusts. It is clear that bus services will need to respond to changing travel needs and infrastructure improvements. This may be assisted by availability of funding secured through planning agreements. However, it is appropriate to define, as part of the strategy, some broad service principles. These are set out below.
4. The principles of the Premium Routes bus network should apply, in particular that major travel generators, including the hospital and university sites, and main shopping area, need to be served by regular and frequent bus services from key centres of population. Similarly, those sites need to be linked in to Park and Ride services. However, because of their dispersed locations it is difficult, and in many cases likely to be uneconomic, to serve all main sites with individual services. It is proposed therefore that alongside new or extended services from the likes of Abingdon and Kidlington, a local high frequency shuttle bus service linking all the main sites and providing for convenient interchange with Park and Ride and well established, radial corridor services, is sought. (Plan B showing a possible route will be displayed at the meeting). This type of service could be operated by smaller (25-seat) buses which would be less intrusive in residential areas and may overcome some of the difficulties in establishing a suitable route. It is also proposed that the area is served from the new Park and Ride site north of Oxford, considering routes via the University Science Area or the ring road (A40).

C. BUS INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS

5. Achieving the important bus service enhancements, described above, is dependent, in part, on infrastructure improvements that reduce bus delays and "dead" mileage and increase the relative attractiveness of bus use. Proposals in the recommended strategy include the introduction of selective vehicle detection, together with alterations to the phasing of signals to give increased priority to buses. Other proposals include the introduction of bus priority measures (lanes and/or gates), such as on Marston Road, and improvements to bus stop infrastructure, with better shelters and information, together with clearways to prevent parked vehicles blocking bus access to the stops.
6. Critical to the achievement of bus access to the Churchill and John Radcliffe Hospital sites and to facilitate the proposed orbiting shuttle bus service, are bus only links to the John Radcliffe site from Saxon Way and Osler Road and also the traffic management changes at the Churchill Hospital accesses. Two of the bus links were amongst the most controversial proposals presented in the consultation. These are considered below:

Osler Road Bus Link

7. Residents of Osler Road and the immediate vicinity strongly opposed the use of the road by buses. However, the requirement to improve bus access to the John Radcliffe site in the planning permission for the relocation of the Radcliffe Infirmary facilities makes it difficult to avoid, given its advantages in reducing route mileage and improving accessibility and reliability. The consultants recommend that a more detailed scheme for Osler Road is prepared, to show how buses could be accommodated, as a basis for further consultation. At the same time it is suggested that the possibility of routeing buses via the Manor Ground should be explored further.

Marsh Lane-Northway Bus Link

8. Three options for a bus link which would allow buses to avoid the often congested Cherwell Drive junction, were suggested by the consultants. Two of these raised substantial objections and should not be considered further.
9. Option A, a route across the southern side of the Court Place Farm sports ground to Maltfield Road, was the least unpopular and would be the most effective of the three options in enabling buses to access the John Radcliffe and other parts of Headington. It has considerable potential as a bus route to the John Radcliffe site from the A40 providing for possible Park and Ride services and for bus services from outlying towns. The consultants recommended that a scheme based on Option A be drawn up to fully assess its impact on the playing fields. It should therefore remain as part of the proposed strategy at this stage.
10. A further suggestion for providing an even more direct bus link to the John Radcliffe site from the A40 was put forward during the consultation. This would involve a new junction on the A40 and the routeing of buses via Foxwell Drive. A range of factors need to be assessed before the practicality and acceptability of such a scheme can be determined. For instance, depending on the form of the junction on the A40 this could be expensive and disruptive to general traffic on the ring road. It is proposed that this arrangement, together with Option A, is investigated further and their merits compared.

D. PARK & RIDE

11. The consultants concluded that Park and Ride is an important component of the transport strategy but that with the commitments to the expansion of Thornhill and the provision of a new site north of Oxford, additional provision at Marston is not needed at this stage. They did, however, recommend that the current Local Plan status of a site at Marston as "to be investigated" is retained. Views for and against a site at Marston were expressed in consultation responses but the consultants didn’t consider that any new issues had emerged.

HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

12. Proposals for cycle, pedestrian and bus improvements arising from the strategy recommendations, considered in Section A, will result in some highway infrastructure changes. In addition, other proposals are emerging from the engineering appraisal of the B4495, (which traverses the study area). It is intended that these should be merged into co-ordinated implementation programmes and brought forward for individual consideration in the usual way.
13. One of the consequences of delays and congestion across the study area is the propensity for ‘rat-running’. This takes place across the area but particularly affects Headington Quarry, parts of Old Headington, Marston village and, in a very focused way, Lime Walk. The consultants propose traffic management or calming measures in these and other appropriate locations. In the case of Lime Walk the attractiveness of the route between London Road and the Churchill Hospital would be significantly reduced if the Oxford Radcliffe Trust were to restrict access to Churchill Drive to buses and ambulances only (this is referred to in Section C on Bus Infrastructure).
14. A variety of more major specific highway measures were put forward for comments and others emerged during the consultation, the most frequently mentioned being a direct road link from the ring road into the John Radcliffe Hospital site. This is considered in the main report whilst the other proposals are considered below.

Cherwell Drive/Headley Way/Marsh Lane/Marston Road Junction

15. Three designs, prepared by Babtie, on behalf of the County Council, were included in the consultation. It was clear that with such a constrained site, none would be able to meet the full aspirations of any of the interest groups expressing views. As a result none of the options put forward received much support, although Option B (provision of cycle lanes and improved pedestrian facilities) seemed to be preferred. Further work needs to be carried out in order to devise a more acceptable junction arrangement although it is acknowledged that it is very difficult to fully meet the needs of all road users here.

Green Road Roundabout

16. Residents, Brookes University and bus company representatives, raised the need to improve the Green Road roundabout junction to improve safety and reduce extensive delays to side road traffic. Of particular concern is that problems at the junction obstruct outbound buses, especially in the evening peak, and delays at the junction result in traffic "rat running" over a wide area, through, for instance, Headington Quarry, Risinghurst and Wheatley.
17. There does seem to be a case for reconsideration of both the introduction of traffic signal controls at the junction (to give priority to local buses) and also more elaborate improvement. There would be scope for these to be considered following the transfer of responsibility of the A40 to the County Council, but the relative priority of these should be considered as part of the forthcoming County Transport Networks Review. A separate study of Green Road is probably justifiable however.

Divinity Road/Southfield Road Area

18. Responses from the local area pressed for protection from extraneous traffic. The consultants consider that further traffic calming is unlikely to be effective and that the only means of substantially reducing traffic in the area would be road closures. When this was tried some years ago it generated considerable opposition and was quickly removed. Certainly the wider implications would need to be assessed first, with the benefit of a detailed local traffic study. Discussions have already taken place with representatives of the East Oxford community to take this forward.

F. PARKING

19. Effective parking controls are critical to the success of the strategy objectives, especially in managing the increased travel demands arising from new developments. The proposals recommended by the consultants for controlling parking, on and off street, are an essential component of the strategy. On street, residents’ or other controlled zones are proposed covering much of the study area but particularly protecting streets around the Churchill and Nuffield sites from commuter parking. As far as off-street parking is concerned the consultants reinforce the view that planning powers should be used to restrict parking to essential operational users, and that corporate Travel Plans should be more effectively applied.

G. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS

20. There was little or no objection to proposals for environmental improvements for central Headington during consultation, save for concerns over funding priorities. The consultants refer to an earlier study carried out for the City Council by Oxford Brookes University and this, along with some additional ideas, needs to be worked into a sensible programme in conjunction with the City Council and local business and community interests. It should be recognised that the severance effect of London Road will be difficult to mitigate although there is scope to improve pedestrian facilities and the streetscape environment by making good use of some wide footways.
    
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