Roads considered for quiet lane trial announced
BBCThe roads being considered for a programme that will ban cars, to make routes safer for walkers, cyclists and horse riders, have been revealed.
The quiet lanes scheme is being trialed by Oxfordshire County Council, with the first road already confirmed as Shepherd's Pit Lane in Stanton Saint John - near Oxford.
Nine more will now be included from the official list of 11 currently being considered, to take part in the pilot.
Gareth Epps, the cabinet member for transport at the local authority said he was pleased the first applications had been received and he was now making sure the proposals are "viable" before further decisions are made.
Under the trial, ten routes would be closed to almost all through motor traffic, using "physical measures" under experimental traffic orders.
Exceptions would be made for residents and emergency services.
The roads being considered are:
- Blackthorn Village, Lower Road
- Blackthorn Village, Station Road
- Road through Bainton (B4100 to Stratton Audley Road)
- Road from Hanwell to Great Bourton (Hanwell Lane)
- Evenlode Lane, Fawler
- Roads connecting Towersey to B445 & A4129
- Battle Road, Goring-on-Thames
- Bagley Wood Road, Kennington
- Sunningwell Road and/or Green Lane, Sunningwell
- Sugworth Lane (Kennington Road to Oxford Road), Radley
- Kingston Hill, Aston Rowant
The list differs to a previous one, released by opposition councillors, which has been described by the local authority as identifying "areas where there have previously been expressions of interest or conversations about quiet lanes but is not a list of proposed or confirmed sites".
All the roads being considered have been put forward by a parish council or local councillor. But concerns remain over the community support for the project.
Residents of Radley took part in a survey around the Sugworth Lane proposal, with the majority of published respondents saying they were opposed to the scheme.
Martin Gray said, "this proposal would effectively create a gated community out of a public highway. We need more public road capacity not less, given the ill considered development of new houses."
But a resident called Caitlin said she supported the idea. "The road is increasingly used as a through-road by non-residents who also often use it for parking which causes crowding. Making it a quiet lane will improve safety for residents, walkers and cyclists," she said.
The parish council has still applied for Sugworth Lane to to be part of the pilot on the condition that the trial only lasts six months and is robustly monitored. Councillors also asked for reassurances as to how the programme would be judged as being "successful".
All 11 sites are now being evaluated for their suitability for the trial. A seven-stage "implementation process" will then begin, including local engagement and an official decision by Epps before a pilot begins.
Epps said, "we're going to go out and get feedback from the public, from farmers and from other business. And where there are significant concerns, there will need to be strong reasons to override that before we make any decisions."
A consultation will run during each trial, followed by a statutory consultation to monitor the impact and decide if the programme should become permanent.