Thanks to Adam for this picture. He says, ‘That is the River Stert at the bottom of the hole. The Barriers along Stert Street are so they can install manhole covers along the culvert to allow access for maintenance and repairs.’
Stert Street was closed overnight to prepare for work on the culvert beneath. Contractors put up barriers and marked spots for new access holes to make it easier to reach the River Stert culvert underneath the footpath. The maintenance work and improvements will continue until May 16th, with another closure that night to remove the barriers. Traffic on the main road will not be affected, but the parking area outside 35-47 Stert Street (near Masons) will be used to store materials for the work.
For more information about this and other roadworks in Abingdon, view: https://one.network/.
A zebra crossing on Northcourt Road, near Dunmore Primary School, has been built to make pedestrians safer. This road sees a lot of traffic, especially during school hours. (According to crashmap.co.uk, there have been three minor accidents on this stretch since 2018). The new crossing was built over an existing speed bump and funded by Oxfordshire County Council. The final carriageway work was planned for half term and took a day.
Oxfordshire County Council has authorised the long-awaited improvements to the Lodge Hill Interchange on the A34. See their news item at https://news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/works-to-improve-junction-capacity-at-lodge-hill-given-planning-permission/.
The work will involve the addition of new south-facing slip roads to the A34.
The junction currently only has north-facing slips.
The improvements are partly funded by contributions from developers, the Growth Deal, and the Department of Levelling Up. However, a funding gap was discovered, and Oxfordshire County Council is in talks with Homes England to secure additional funding.
The project was a condition for the new housing in North Abingdon and is expected to reduce traffic through Abingdon.