The new play park and multi-use games area at Kings Gate have opened and are proving popular. This photo was taken on a school-day morning, during quieter hours.
Contractors are completing the final section of the cycle and pedestrian path over the River Stert, which will connect Aldi, the Kings Gate estate, Tilsley Park, and the Abbey Fields development.
On the roads, work has yet to resume on the Oxford Road roundabout. However, preliminary work on the long-awaited south-facing slip roads for the A34 at Lodge Hill is set to begin. According to a BBC report, a site compound will be built off the Oxford Road from 10th February, with vegetation and trees being cleared. Oxfordshire County Council estimates that the main interchange works will be completed by summer 2026.
For those seeking more details, a public information event will be held at Long Furlong Community Centre on 21st March, from 14:00 to 18:00.
In a smaller project, Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council is planning to replace the town entry signs. They need moving beyond the new houses, and some of the existing signs have not weathered well. (It’s still only one hour of free parking in the town centre. The ‘1’ covering the ‘2’ must have peeled off.)
Concerns have been raised about the height of the railings around the courts section of this play area. It is not high enough to stop balls from going over and falling into the open drainage trenches or onto the road.
Also a pity that the “youths” from abjngdon college have been there drinking, smoking and harassing parents and their children
Would it be worth raising the issue with the Principal of the college?
The old town signs had been there since at least the 80s and yet these haven’t lasted long at all!
https://maps.app.goo.gl/QMwX424AjCVTG6Js9
“According to a BBC report, a site compound will be built off the Oxford Road from 10th February, with vegetation and trees being cleared.”
Why do they have to clear existing vegetation and trees when there are already bare fields they can borrow or rent a portion of for a while? I really hope it’s close to the A34 – and not much scrub needs clearing – and it’s not the area right next to the Oxford Road roundabout.
Not that it matters so much now anyway seeing as the world’s climate is definitely going to pot, but it’s sad to see existing trees and scrub getting chopped down.