Oxfordshire: 'Tories will rip out traffic calming measures'

Oxfordshire County Council plans to install traffic filters on six roads in the city on a trial basis once Network Rail’s work to improve Oxford rail station is completed and Botley Road is reopened.

The filters will be trialled on St Cross Road, Thames Street, Hythe Bridge Street, St Clement’s, Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way and are part of the county council’s plan for reducing congestion and improving bus journey times.

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County councillor Andrew Gant (Image: Ed Nix)

However, Conservative opposition leader Eddie Reeves told the Oxford Times that residents and business owners were “increasingly living in a climate of fear in which they can no longer ask reasonable questions of the council”.

Andrew Gant, the county council’s cabinet member for highways, has since hit back at Mr Reeves and said he “doesn’t seem to understand the basics of policies, many of which were promoted by his own party”.

Mr Gant said: “Councillor Reeves and his Tory colleagues have no vision for our country.

“They have even turned their back on their own policies.

“They would rip out traffic calming measures, including ones that have been in place for decades, encouraging higher speeds and putting more lives at risk.”

Traffic filters in Oxford (Image: Oxford Mail)

Mr Gant said that he was “delighted and proud” that the council was doing things for “climate change reasons”.

He said the Conservative Party in Oxfordshire were “on the wrong side of history” and had “run out of road”.

Mr Reeves has been approached for comment.