East Oxford householders have hit out at the council for not opening up an LTN (low traffic neighbourhood) ahead of roundabout works, prompting one critic to say "for crying out loud, open up the roads".
The Littlemore roundabout on the eastern bypass was closed to traffic between 8pm on Friday, August 2 and 6am on Monday, August 5 for resurfacing works.
Littlemore councillor Anne Stares had previously called on the county council to open up the Crowell Road LTN which stops cars taking cut-throughs down residential streets as she said this would help reduce traffic.
READ MORE: Calls to open up Oxford LTN amid Littlemore Roundabout works
LTNs - which restrict traffic through residential areas - were introduced in Oxford in May 2022 with the aim of making streets safer but have since proved controversial and been blamed for increasing congestion.
The county council said at the time it would not be possible to open up the LTN as "it is our policy to only open in an emergency situation".
Job done.
— Oxfordshire County Council (@OxfordshireCC) August 5, 2024
The Littlemore/Rose Hill roundabout reopened this morning after weekend resurfacing work. pic.twitter.com/f5zFau6A0m
But following the closure, east Oxford householder Amir Steve Ali said: "I’m not surprised – I don’t rely on Oxfordshire County Council. That’s why I do my own things via the government.
"For crying out loud, open up the roads.
"They need to be trained by people with some brains.
"What harm would it have caused to for a couple of days to just let the traffic go through the LTN."
Founder of the Anti-LTN Hub UK group, Pete White - who lives in Littlemore - added: "What a nightmare.
"I guess it needed doing.
"The knock-on effect on traffic was absolutely huge.
"It was chaos."
He said "two bizarre things" were that one of the lanes towards the roundabout was shut and also that traffic lights were "not adjusted" which left people waiting for three minutes every five minutes "for no reason".
But Littlemore parish councillor Dr Chris Smowton, a Liberal Democrat, said: "I think the arguments back and forth about the Crowell LTN are basically the same as they are at normal times.
"Yes, opening it will make car journeys faster than going via Newman Road, but that will come at the cost of delaying bus services and leaving cyclists without a quiet route to use.
"Considering entering Littlemore via Newman Road is made a lot easier without any ring road traffic to contend with, I think the council's decision to keep bus and bike traffic separated from car traffic makes sense.
"The most limited part of the route is in any event the pinch point outside Littlemore Post Office, and opening or closing Crowell Road has no bearing on that."
Ms Stares said: "The work has made a great and much needed improvement to the roundabout and was finished on time which was brilliant.
"However, the disruption around the ring road and the few remaining open boundary roads to the LTNs was severe with small journeys taking over an hour.
"This caused significant hardship and delays which, with a bit more forward planning, goodwill, and common sense, could have so easily been avoided."
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