This Saturday the walk by the Thames in Abingdon was slippery in places, but the air did not feel as cold as previous days.
People were running round Rye Farm Meadow, and at Abingdon Lock, but taking it more easily than usual – the weekly Parkrun time trail had been cancelled because of ice.
I gather the A34 northbound was closed at the Milton Interchange because of another accident involving a heavy good vehicle. Traffic was diverted through Steventon, Drayton and Abingdon, causing other routes to get slowed up.
There were lots of people at the coffee houses on what was a bright sunny day.
The town crier was out and about announcing the Local Excellence Market next Saturday (31st Jan 2015). The Abingdon Country Market (formerly known as WI Market) will be taking part. They have been excluded from the Farmers Market so this is an alternative outlet.
On March 27th The Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Transport heard representations on proposed changes to the pedestrian lights on Marcham Road and Ock Street. These changes are a prerequisite for building the 159 houses in a field off the Drayton Road, and will be funded by the developer. On that occasion 11 people spoke against the plans and the cabinet member rejected the proposal.
Following a legal challenge on the grounds that the County Council did not make clear the reason for rejection, the scheme is going back for reconsultation. On the initial occasion the Town Council objected on grounds of “increased congestion and delay, safety, and reduced air quality”
The plans have not changed. Correspondence from the first consultation will be included in the second, but people can write again. Email:Christian.mauz at oxfordshire.gov.uk no later than 26th September. A decision will be made on October 9th. The writing on brown is the location of the existing lights, and the red zig-zags are the proposed lights.
This evening at the Long Furlong Community Centre, in Abingdon, about 120 local residents went to hear about the Vale of White Horse (VWHDC) Draft Local Plan.
Councillor Sandy Lovatt was there to explain the plan, and to take questions from concerned residents.
The draft plan involves building 610 extra houses (with possibly 900 cars) in fields between the peripheral road and the A34 in North Abingdon. This is because more houses are needed across the VWHDC to meet house building targets.
The video above shows the fields that are affected.
The main concern for residents was the extra traffic, and need for better infrastructure. One resident said it was very difficult getting out of their estate roads onto the peripheral road at peak times. It was a serious accident waiting to happen.
Another resident said that Abingdon had a very poor record in council led traffic changes and asked that any changes to the peripheral road be the subject of an independent traffic study.
Another resident said that the recent changes to the Wootton Road roundabout had made things worse. It had become a new bottleneck.
Approval of the plan will be in 2014 and adoption in 2015. 400 of the 610 houses could be built between 2015-2019, and 200 from 2020-2031. The consultation period for the housing plan is already over and 2,700 replies have been received by VWHDC. As a result some alterations could be made. Then the plan will go back to Councillors for approval. So there is a last chance to write to your County Councillor (for North Abingdon that is sandy.lovatt@oxfordshire.gov.uk) to influence that decision. Later on, residents can petition for the right infrastructure to be put in place when developers submit plans.
The three roads that connect the Drayton Road with Wilsham Road in South Abingdon all have traffic calming measures. Caldecott Road has speed bumps. Saxton Road has a 20 MPH Home zone with narrowing and chicanes.
Preston Road has the notorious chicanes at the top end where drivers leave a trail as their wheels cut up the road. Some cars even bump into the chicanes.
Then there is a long stretch down Preston Road where junctions are mixed with parked cars – where vehicles can go fast.
So what would work best?
a) Better enforcement of speed limit
b) More traffic calming, speed bumps, chicanes etc..
c) Reduction of speed limit to 20mph
d) Safer Road crossing
e) More Off road parking
f) Other.
