A senior politician has reportedly said a main road into Oxford "will be closed until December 2025", with the revelation being branded an "utter disgrace".
Botley Road was shut in April 2023 as part of the redevelopment of Oxford's railway station, a £116 million project.
The road had been 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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Network Rail then announced last month there would be further delays owing to the unforeseen "complexity" of the project.
We have been contacting the council and Network Rail for any indication as to how long the road will be closed but are yet to receive any timescale.
It comes after county council leader Liz Leffman said in a BBC interview at the end of July the road would be closed for "another year".
The county council has continued to say communication on the project is the responsibility of Network Rail and all comment before a formal announcement is "speculative".
But Jericho householder John Mair, said a "very senior member of the cabinet", who he was friends with, had told him the road wouldn't be open until December 2025.
We have not named the councillor in question.
Mr Mair said: "It's an utter disgrace.
"A main arterial road will have been closed for two-and-a-half-years just for one project.
"I think this should all be public
"People should know exactly what’s happening."
Conservative county councillor Liam Walker said: "It was revealed the council knew before that the opening was going to be delayed and said nothing so now they need to be very clear with residents and businesses on this further delay.”
A worker at the HollyBush pub in Bridge Street, just off Botley Road, said communication had been "absolutely awful".
He added: "It's a Chinese whispers situation."
Andy Jones, a manger of the Westgate Hotel in Botley Road, said he had had to decrease his room prices as visitors were arriving "at a building site" and he had not received any compensation.
An Oxfordshire County Council spokesman said: "The timescale for reopening Botley Road and completing the Oxford Station redevelopment is still to be decided by Network Rail and the Department for Transport.
"Until this is made public, any dates discussed are purely speculation."
A Network Rail spokesman added: "We continue to work with the Department for Transport and local authority partners as we undertake a full review of the programme and will provide an update on timescales for the next steps of the project as soon as we’re able.
"No decision has yet been made. This is an incredibly complex project, involving multiple organisations, so although we know everyone wants clarity, we are taking the time to get it right so that we can deliver these major improvements to rail services."
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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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