DUE to current ‘works’ in the planned Barton Keynes, half of the London-bound A40 is restricted to 30mph and one lane from Marston to Headington, with many drivers I’ve spoken to still anxious to witness any work actually being done inside this 24-hour-a-day restricted section of one of our major bypass routes.

Now we learn the Headington Quarry to Horspath/Cowley section is to suffer the same fate, because of a water main being changed a mile-and-a-half away, on an estate sealed off from the ring road.

This repair work follows the breaking of a water main in Normandy Crescent which flooded people out of their homes.

How big then, Thames Water, is this hole going to be?

I understand the logic about the need for safety when you’re actually working close to the bypass itself, but come on, not Normandy Crescent to the ring road at Risinghurst.

Oxford City Council, which is mainly about bike riding, as we all know, is determined to stop cars entering the city, and now Oxfordshire County Council is stopping us from even freely driving around and avoiding it.

It’ll be another utter waste of people’s time and cause another batch of unnecessary jams both inside the city and along the ring road itself.

Thankfully, the water will be off, as they obviously couldn’t run a bath between them anyway!

DAVID WILLIAMS
David Walter Close, Oxford