A solution to traffic problems in the London Road, Headington Hill and St Clement's corridor will be one of Oxford's biggest challenges.

The rapid expansion of hospitals and Oxford Brookes University at Headington, coupled with the closure of High Street, has meant that roads have become swamped with traffic.

Oxfordshire County Council has opened a debate on what can be done to relieve one of the city's biggest bottlenecks.

Its ideas so far are hardly revolutionary -- priority signals for buses, new bus lanes and bus stops, better warning signs near schools and more pedestrian crossings and cycle paths.

City councillor Stephen Tall is worried that the emphasis will be on keeping traffic flowing, rather than meeting the needs of Headington residents.

There are also claims that publicity for the initial three-week consultation period has been poor.

Inevitably there are comparisons with the £6.1m redesign of Cowley Road, where consultation lasted a year and the plans were featured permanently in a shop.

There are no easy answers to the Headington problems. There should be no hurried decisions -- everyone, residents and commuters alike, must be given enough time to form a view and have their say.

It will be better to hold back and get it right, than rush and get it wrong.