An important "missed deadline" has led to widespread concerns a major city road into Oxford could be prevented from reopening.
Botley Road has been closed since April 2023 as part of the redevelopment of Oxford's railway station, a £116 million project.
But Network Rail, which is leading the works, has now missed a crucial deadline to account for its planned 'rail blockade' - a railway closure - which typically needs around a year's notice according to industry sources.
The road was supposed to reopen temporarily from October 2023 to March 2024 but delays forced Network Rail to re-think and announce the closure would continue until October 2024.
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The authority then announced earlier this month there would be further delays owing to the unforeseen "complexity" of the project.
It comes as Oxfordshire County Council leader Liz Leffman said in a BBC radio interview earlier this week that she expected Network Rail's work to be delayed by "another year".
Ms Leffman's comments were branded "largely speculative" by the council after other councillors such as Independent Saj Malik said he was frustrated her "slip of the tongue" had let the information out rather than it being properly presented to the public.
We have been asking Network Rail for updates on the project but are yet to receive any rough timescale after Ms Leffman's interview.
But it is understood the railway company's missed deadline could be another significant hurdle to delay the works further.
A county council spokesman said: "Network Rail arranged a rail blockade at Oxford Station for July 27-31 2024, which is when they originally intended to install the new Botley Road rail bridge.
"However, they missed this deadline, which is why they will need to organise another rail blockade once they finalise their plans for completing the project."
Network Rail disputes the suggestion it necessarily takes a year to get permission to implement a rail blockade, despite third party sources stating "where major works are needed to be carried out, works are pre-planned 12 months ahead of schedule at times which aim to cause the least disruption to commuters".
A spokesman for Network rail said: "These closures (of railways) are generally planned in advance for enhancement and renewal work because they need to be agreed with passenger and freight operators and co-ordinated across the country’s entire railway network.
"They are often planned for times when we expect fewer passengers, such as bank holidays, but this isn’t always the case. They do not always take a year to plan. They may be planned swiftly for emergency repairs, for example."
Meanwhile, traders in Oxford have reacted to what they claim to be "poor communication" from the authorities involved.
Vikas Patel, manager at the East West provisions store on Woodstock Road, said: "Nobody from the council has come to see us or anything.
"We're losing trade and people are scared to come here now because of the traffic."
Mr Patel said he had found out about the delays through our media coverage.
A spokesman for ROX – Rescue Oxford – Backing Oxford Businesses, Graham Jones, said he had been "absolutely shocked" by Ms Leffman's remark the works could take a year.
He added: "It is so badly planned it's unimaginable."
Mr Jones went on to make reference to the county council having "known the delay was highly likely" two months before the announcement.
The council says it was limited in what it could say due to pre-election restrictions and that Network Rail is responsible for communication on the project.
But Mr Jones added that in a meeting for businesses with the council on July 9, normally held quarterly, the council representatives had spoken as if a controversial traffic filters trial was still going ahead in November as planned.
Mr Jones said: "There seems to be a lot of shady business going on.
"Why did senior officers tell us in July at that meeting that as far as they knew Network Rail was still finishing its work at the end of October and the traffic filters were coming in straight after that?
"This is very bad. Did the council officers lie to us?"
The county council says the senior officer at the meeting had not been formally told the Botley Road would definitely not be reopening at this point.
Ward councillor Susanna Pressel said: "It was embarrassing to see that the leader of the council had to be corrected by a council officer" in relation to the council's comment Ms Leffman's remark about 'one year' was 'largely speculative'."
Ms Pressel and fellow ward councillor Lois Muddiman said they thought Thames Water was "somewhat to blame for the delays".
But a Thames Water spokesman said: "Thames Water is not aware of anything that has caused a delay to progress of the works but can investigate specific concerns.
"The design of the water main diversions has been amended several times as the overall Network Rail project design has evolved but where changes have been required, these have been carried out quickly and expedited where possible.”
Labour county councillor Duncan Enright, the party's county spokesman for Transport and Strategic Development, said: “Councillor Leffman is not the right person to be speaking on complex transport issues such as progress with the Botley Road scheme.
"We are waiting to hear from Network Rail and the Department of Transport, and she must apologise for her speculative remarks."
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About the author
Noor is the Local Democracy Reporter for Oxfordshire who covers political stories from across the county.
She began working as a journalist in Oxford in September 2023 having graduated from the University of Oxford.
Noor was trained at the News Associates journalism school and can be found on X through the handle @NoorJQurashi
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