PLANS to convert the Cutteslowe roundabout in North Oxford into a hamburger junction have been scrapped, it has emerged.

Oxfordshire County Council has rethought plans to overhaul Cutteslowe and Wolvercote roundabouts after they were criticised by residents and community groups.

The £9m scheme would have made both junctions light-controlled, with a road going through Cutteslowe roundabout to improve traffic flow.

A series of pedestrian and cycle crossings were also to be put in between islands on both junctions, and at Wolvercote an exit to Five Mile Drive would have been closed off.

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But the council yesterday confirmed that Cutteslowe would not become a hamburger junction and that crossings would be moved to the edges.

It said the changes would be safer and mean cyclists and pedestrians could cross the busy roads faster.

The entrance to Five Mile Drive at the Wolvercote roundabout will also be retained after strong objections were made by residents.

County council spokesman Dominic Llewellyn-Jones said: “The changes were made following an initial consultation carried out during July 2014 and further design work.

“Traffic modelling undertaken confirms that a signal roundabout junction [at Cutteslowe] would operate better at this location.

“This means that a more direct route for pedestrians and cyclists can be provided, one of the main concerns raised during the earlier consultation.”

The traffic modelling used on Cutteslowe was the same as that used for other hamburger junctions in Oxford, he added, but the authority found it would not be the best option there.

The council has said that the scheme – which will also widen approaches from the A40 and A44 – should reduce delays and congestion.

Wolvercote and Summertown county councillor Jean Fooks said she hoped the changes would encourage more people to respond to a new consultation, set to begin on Thursday.

She said: “There are a lot of happy people in Five Mile Drive because of these changes.

“People say there is no point in commenting on these things but actually in this case the council has listened to what people said.

“I hope this will mean more people will give their views on the new scheme when it goes to consultation.”

But Simon Hunt, chairman of the city’s cycling group, Cyclox, said the changes to pedestrian and cycle crossings “did not take cyclists into account”.

He said that instead of having to navigate the light-controlled roundabouts a raised section for pedestrians and cyclists should be put in place instead.

He said: “This scheme has not been looked at from the perspectives of pedestrians and cyclists.

“Two of the exits at Wolvercote Roundabout do not even have crossings.

“This is simply not on.”

Residents can comment on the new scheme from Thursday by visiting oxfordshire.gov.uk/ cms/content/a40-wolvercote- and-cutteslowe-roundabout-improvements

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