Intro about the scheme 

Safer Roads is a project to improve road safety on some of our busiest roads.

Banbury Road in north Oxford and Iffley Road in east Oxford are both key movement routes or ‘corridors’ in the city, used daily by a wide range of transport users. 

Working in partnership with the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Safer Roads Foundation, we have identified a group of safety interventions to reduce the accidents along both routes.

Why are we investing here? 

‘Safer Roads’ is a part of our vision zero commitment to work toward a goal of zero serious or fatal road traffic accidents on the county and city roads by 2050. 

Banbury Road and Iffley Road each have a mix of housing and businesses, with schools or direct access to schools. Both are very busy roads carrying a mixture of transport, including people walking, bikes, motorbikes, cars, buses, taxis, and delivery vehicles ranging from vans to large articulated lorries.  

There are key points on both roads where there have been a higher number of road accidents than in some other parts of the city. Between 2012 and 2021 there were 153 road traffic accidents resulting in injury or death on Banbury Road between St. Giles and Cutteslowe roundabout and 156 road traffic accidents resulting in injury or death on Iffley Road between The Plain and Littlemore roundabout. Most of the accidents were on or near junctions with side roads. 

There are three key objectives for this project: 

• Provide better pedestrian and cycling facilities. 
• Reduce the risk and number of collisions and accidents. 
• Reduce the number of fatal/serious injuries/casualties involving pedestrians and cyclists. 

The project supports our Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP) in particular our aims for accessibility, safety and supporting non-dependant travel.  Our vision is to:

• replace or remove 1 out of every 4 car trips within Oxfordshire with cycling and walking
• increase the number of cycle trips in Oxfordshire from 600,000 to 1 million cycle trips per week
• reduce road fatalities or life-changing injuries by 50% by 2030.  

By providing better pedestrian and cycling facilities, the project is considered to address three of our nine strategic priorities directly:

1. Put actions to address the climate emergency at the heart of our work. 
2. Invest in an inclusive, integrated, and sustainable transport network. 
3. Prioritise the health and well-being of residents.

About the improvements

We are focusing on designing works to significantly reduce accident risks at a series of junctions on the two roads where the number of collision incidents has been higher. The accident statistics and locations have been assessed to identify the priority junction points. These are: 

• Banbury Road (A4165) – between St. Giles (A4144) and the A40 roundabout: 
  • Bevington Road, Norham Road, Park Town (South), Park Town (North), St. Margaret’s Road, Rawlinson Road, Linton Road. 
• Iffley Road (A4158) – between Donnington Bridge junction (B4495) and the Eastern Bypass roundabout (A4142): 
  • Freelands Road, Radcliffe Road, Cornwallis Road, Iffley Turn (South), Courtland Road (North), Courtland Road (South). 

The works are intended to reduce the number of road traffic accidents on both the roads and make them safer for vulnerable road users. Vulnerable users are people who are less protected by their vehicles when on the roads – usually people walking, wheeling, cycling, scooting, horse riding, or riding a motorbike. 

What can you expect?

A series of meetings with stakeholders will be held to help identify and understand the details of what improvements are needed. Key stakeholders are businesses and residents on Banbury Road and Iffley Road, who can provide valuable insight into road use and traffic behaviours on the two roads. 

Highways designs have been drafted for the improvements, which will be reviewed and finalised based on the feedback from local stakeholders where it can be delivered (within the budget and requirements of the funding). 

We are expecting the measures to include putting in raised tables – these are wider speed ramps that are normally installed across a junction to help slow vehicles down. We are also installing solar studs along the cycle routes to more clearly separate the cycleway from the carriageway as well as improvement works to raised pedestrian crossing points (‘pedestrian refuge islands’). This will be included as a part of the proposals we will be consulting on. 

This will be followed by a formal consultation to allow people to share their feedback on the finalised designs. Feedback can be through stakeholder meetings, by writing to or emailing the county council, and/or by completing a survey for the consultation. All feedback received during the consultation will contribute to an officer report that will be submitted to a county council cabinet meeting for a decision to be made before progressing to construction on the project. 

We expect to open a consultation in 2024, and, subject to getting approval to proceed with works plans would expect works to begin in summer 2025. We will update with exact works dates when they are confirmed. 

During the works, necessary arrangements will be made to protect continued access. 

How is it being funded? 

We made a bid for funding to make key safety improvements on Banbury Road and Iffley Road in 2023, and have been awarded £1.675m from the Department for Transport to deliver the safety works proposed. 

Timescales

Next steps

We are in the process of arranging stakeholder meetings with key groups to find out what road safety points on the Banbury and Iffley Roads are most important to the local community. This information will then be used to help shape the draft plan and consultation for the project.  

Contact us:

If you would like to know about the project, you can contact us by

saferroadsfund@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Safer Roads Fund Project
Oxfordshire County Council
County Hall
New Road
Oxford
OX1 1ND