It all started so well this morning with traffic flowing smoothly along West St Helen Street. But by lunchtime, a queue of traffic had slowed to a crawl.
The usual school run chaos is over for a few weeks. Although term officially ends tomorrow (22nd July), many local schools are having inset days on the 21st and 22nd. With staff training underway and students at home, the school year is effectively over.
Even so, by midday, Radio Oxford was reporting traffic problems — not across Oxfordshire, just here in Abingdon. Temporary traffic lights on Ock Street were causing long tailbacks, holding up drivers trying to get out of the town centre via the High Street, and all its tributaries. Radio Oxford said it added twenty minutes to the journey from Culham, and fifteen minutes from West St Helen Street.
One man sitting in his car told me, ‘I’ve lived here since 1978, and the traffic just keeps getting worse.’
By the afternoon, things had quietened down as the temporary lights were switched off. But the lights might be back over the next couple of days.
Big Water Company report published today and Thames Water decides to show us what they can achieve with one fella armed with a ‘windy pick and a set of traffic lights in Ock Street.
Why is it not being done overnight when it would cause the minimum disruption to traffic ?
Bad timing of the lights – bringing the town to gridlock, but little wait time coming the other way. But then when I came past there wasn’t a soul working there.
Timing issues with the lights at Coxeters corner , Right turn Ock street to Stratton Way. A lot of the time
its just 5 to 10 seconds on Green ! Similar issue with right turn out of Waitrose at the lights on the Vineyard.
Driving through Clifton Hampden that afternoon, I found the road to Notcutts was closed with a policeman on duty. Up at the roundabout we couldn’t get to Notcutts that way. Again road closed by Police. No wonder traffic was having to go through Abingdon.
I believe the road closure was due to a van fire between Clifton Hampden and the Golden Balls roundabout by Notcutts.
I came through on my bike. Didn’t have a problem, quite enjoyable really.
that person has been sitting in the traffic for a very long time