In West St Helen Street, and nearby roads, a crew with a line-painting lorry have been redrawing and replacing the road markings. The marking paint is melted in a tank and extruded onto the road surface before cooling and hardening.

Old lines are removed by heating them to soften the material, then it is scraped away.

The double yellow lines near the Co-op are being replaced with a parking bay. Opposite, the parking outside the Salvation Army has been replaced by double yellow lines. These parking changes were agreed on 22 January by Oxfordshire County Council following an earlier consultation.

‘Residents Parking’ lettering and bay markings were redrawn elsewhere and added in St Edmunds Lane. There are new double yellow lines, particularly at corners.

The holes in the road either side of the iron bridge have been filled in and the barriers removed so for now West St Helen Street is open to through traffic from South Abingdon.

It had seemed likely — at least to casual observers — that St Helen’s Wharf would reopen to traffic by now. The holes around the church were filled in a couple of days ago, fresh tarmac was laid, and even the protective barriers around the new surface were removed, suggesting that the work there was complete.

Meanwhile, although the River Thames remains fairly high, it is not at a level that would require St Helen’s Wharf to close.

However, at the far end of St Helen’s Wharf, by the Iron Bridge, the picture is different. Holes are still open on both sides of the bridge with work crews. According to one.network, these works could continue until 6 March. That said, the new yellow gas mains pipes have already been installed on one side and the work could be finished sooner.

Something that has reopened on St Helen’s Wharf is the Old Anchor Inn. After being closed throughout January, with work being carried out, it opened its doors again last Friday and has relaunched with a lively programme of events, including bingo, quiz nights, live music, and food.

The weir path is open again, after a few days, and the notices have been updated to confirm this. It looks as though it was closed only as long as necessary for safety.

Meanwhile, the road by St Helen’s Wharf remains shut, but progress has been made: the new yellow plastic gas main has been laid, and the trenches have been backfilled. There are just a few inches left at the surface, waiting to be finished with tarmac.

So one route has returned to normal, the other is a work in progress but should be finished soon.

West St Helen Street remains quiet following a further extension of the emergency road closure outside St Helen’s Church.

Oxfordshire County Council says the closure has now been extended until 6 February 2026.

Residents on the street seem to be enjoying the peace, and the absence of traffic queues. The High Street also seems quieter. For people travelling in from South Abingdon, however, the diversion is less welcome and I have heard people complaining about the time it takes to get into town.

The reason for the extension is unclear. The van in the photograph is not from SGN (the gas contractor) but from Abingdon Town Council, whose staff were working in the churchyard, cutting back ivy.

P.S Work has resumed today (29th January) using a lorry with a large drill that has managed to get down deeper round the old gas pipes. So it looks like progress was waiting on that.