Bridge could end congestion and pollution 'crisis' in Witney

The West End Link Road, which would link Woodford Way to West End, would solve Witney's main issues of congestion, pollution and flooding, said Crawley Parish Council.

And housing should be built in north Witney to fund it, they said.

Major expansion of the larger communities around Oxford, including Witney, has been planned for many years to support growth.

The plan for Witney was to construct a series of perimeter roads, funded by housing schemes in strategic development areas around the town.

Almost all the perimeter roads are complete.

The three outstanding schemes are the west-facing slip roads onto the A40 at Shores Green which have now received planning permission and will be funded by housing development at East Witney, the Northern Distributor Road across the north of the town and West End Link (WEL).

Crawley Parish Council said without these final road schemes, congestion and air pollution in central Witney "have reached crisis levels".

"As a result of the problems in Bridge Street many drivers are choosing to avoid Witney town centre and are seeking alternative routes.

"The nearest bridge over the Windrush is in Crawley where residents are suffering from a substantial increase in the volume of traffic," they said.

In 2005 the Bridge Street area of Witney was registered as an Air Quality Management Area because air pollution exceeded threshold levels set out in the Environment Act 1995.

"WODC are required to publish annual plans showing their mitigation of this pollution, but progress has been slow," said the report prepared by Crawley councillor Mark McCappin who has worked on the design, construction and maintenance of highways and bridges across Oxfordshire. 

"A high impact measure is needed.

"The West End Link is just such a measure with a new bridge over the Windrush River and the introduction of a one-way system in central Witney.

"This will remove the bottleneck and allow traffic to flow freely.

"No traffic queues mean air pollution will drop significantly."

He also suggested the road could act as an embankment or dam by restricting flow of the River Windrush from Bridge Street down to the planned road, helping to control flooding - another issue in Witney.

An additional arm must be added to the embankment to protect Crawley Road properties from the resulting higher water level, he said.

The North Witney Consortium of Blenheim Strategic Partners, Cranbrook Construction Limited, Gleeson Land Limited, L&Q Estates Limited and Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd has just released its plans for a 1,250-home estate in north Witney.

But instead of the West End Link Road they propose two "active travel corridors" for walking and cycling instead.

Campaigners North Witney Action Group opposed North Witney being earmarked for development in 2016 because of flood risk but say the omission of the WEL from the latest developers' proposals makes them 'appreciably worse'.

Crawley Parish Council also said it will also campaign against 'speculative' schemes at North Witney and any that fail to fund construction of the WEL.

But Mr McCappin said WODC "could not assume that the housing developer would fund and construct the WEL.

"Given the uncertainties over completion of the design stages, no housing developer will contemplate taking the risk of funding the WEL.

"However, WODC may secure a defined lump sum from the developer as an alternative. Clearly it will be a difficult process to agree an estimate for the lump sum amount and WODC will probably have to use third parties to determine a figure."

He added: "WODC did develop long term plans for infrastructure improvements around Witney that would address the huge expansion of housing in Witney as part of Oxford’s growth.

"There is still a chance to complete these plans and, in so doing, to facilitate current WODC plans for active travel and for pedestrianisation of parts of the town centre.

"WODC must not allow this opportunity to be lost."

A consultation is currently under way on West Oxfordshire District Council's Local Plan which will guide the pattern of development in the district until 2041. 

Heather Northam, chair of Crawley Parish Council, said: “The long-term growth strategy for Witney that included both housing and the associated perimeter roads was well thought out.

"We believe that this should be delivered in full for the wider benefit of the whole community.

"Crawley would like to be certain that all three schemes will be retained when the 2041 Local Plan."