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Cherwell Street changes aiming to improve Banbury bus times
14/10/2024
Planners said there isn’t enough room for a dedicated bus lane all the way from George Street
Detailed design work for a scheme to improve bus times in Banbury town centre is about to get underway.
At a meeting last week, Oxfordshire County Council’s highways chief, Councillor Andrew Gant, agreed to initial proposals made in the Cherwell Street Bus Service Improvement Scheme.
The plans aim to reduce congestion for buses moving between George Street, Cherwell Street and the bus station in Bridge Street.
The County Council has secured £2.3m from the Department for Transport for the scheme and an additional £0.5m of Section 106 funding from developers has also been allocated to the project.
The scheme would see the bus lane from George Street onto Cherwell Street widened with the two lanes for cars reduced to one. On Cherwell Street itself the first, left turning lane into Bridge Street would be extended, but designers stopped short of making this a bus-only lane.
The proposals would also see traffic from Concorde Avenue reduced to two lanes at the Bridge Street junction and pedestrian crossings improved.
Paul Bonsar from Banbury Active Travel Network told the meeting the proposals didn’t go far enough.
Mr Bonsar said: “What we would like to see is an active bus lane going along Cherwell Street, going straight round to Bridge Street, which is where the bus station is.
“As it is the bus lane terminates at the junction of George Street and Cherwell Street. Then it’s a bit of a bun fight while the buses struggle along the last bit.”
But the officers who designed the scheme explained that there wasn’t the room for a dedicated bus lane all the way into George Street and the benefits would be minimal.
Councillor Gant approved the proposals to move to the next stage of design work, with another consultation then set to take place.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam
Adam Hewins On 14/10/2024 at 1:55 pm
The busses are held up because the junction is gridlocked with cars, tailing back from Bridge Street traffic lights. Reducing the number of lanes to allow for a dedicated bus lane will not improve this situation for the motorist. While I would have some sympathy for this proposal is it was for the benefit of the many at the expense of the few, the reality is that the majority of journeys at this junction are made in personal cars, not on public transport: It would therefore make more sense to improve the overall traffic flow here, not make it worse for the majority of users by prioritising busses.
The proposal to add vehicular access to Banbury Station via Tramway MAY do something to unblock the end of Bridge Street – but I am an concerned this will just shift the problem to the end of Bankside / Hightown.
Babs Watson On 14/10/2024 at 3:10 pm
I am concerned that these planned alterations are going to take place at the same time the Tramway/Banbury station work starts. It will be absolute chaos.