Why have we got so much traffic

Thu 23 Apr 2020, 15:04

 The lorry’s are meant to go via Enstone road but they all go buy sat nav and a lot of drivers are agency workers so have. Ever been to charlbury. Sorry if it’s a problem . 

Thu 23 Apr 2020, 14:06

Maybe this is something that the Town Council might take up with the Coop as it seems to be something of a problem at the moment?

Thu 23 Apr 2020, 10:22

Co-op lorry just making its way down Market Street – so close to the houses that I could (and did) lean out of our first floor window and bang on the roof of the lorry. I shudder to think how it’s going to get past the even narrower section further towards Thames Street.

Of course, with Park Street closed and Sheep Street narrower still, once it was on Market Street there wasn’t really any turning back (short of reversing up Browns Lane!). I wonder whether the Co-op could have a standing instruction that all lorries should leave via Enstone Road.

Thu 16 Apr 2020, 19:45

Traffic around Charlbury is so light that you can hear the birdsong again, except when those young lads in the hatchback with a baked bean can for an exhaust come up the Spelsbury Road at 5000rpm in second gear! I don't even think they are speeding?

Charlbury TT course very quiet and few civil airliners operating overhead either. Flightradar24 website highlighted a high altitude Boeing 747 freighter out of Frankfurt bound for USA yesterday, but otherwise just a few helicopters and light aircraft.

Parcels are the backbone of Royal Mail nowadays as hardly anyone writes letters. It did seem to take a while for some posties to get PPE and some letters and parcels seem to have got stuck at Swindon for over a week.

Sure there has been an increase in white van traffic as some people resort to Amazon for their shopping, but without a shadow of doubt traffic levels are well down on normal. My sister is self-isolating on the Slade and I was able to turn into and out of her place without the usual waiting time. Enjoy it while it lasts! :-)

Wed 15 Apr 2020, 20:36

It’s hard on the postal workers and delivery personnel. I have a few friends who work in this sector and they are overwhelmed at the moment due to the high volume of parcel deliveries where everyone is shopping online through boredom!

Wed 15 Apr 2020, 14:21 (last edited on Wed 15 Apr 2020, 14:23)

Lots of light weight vans noted and I would guess a big increase in home deliveries using this mode of transport . A reduction in heavy vehicle movements and no HGV vehicles going over the river bridge. No traffic to the station or irresponsible parking . A lot of local volunteers making deliveries for people in isolation or choosing or unable to do so.

Wed 15 Apr 2020, 12:54

I was just thinking the same earlier on. People seem to have scrapped the idea of staying at home since the Easter break. My home office window looks down onto Thames Street and it seems to have returned to almost normal weekday traffic volumes. I’ve spotted vans, trucks and several cars which have been past several times already today. It’s been so nice these past few weeks being able to have the window open and hear the birds tweeting...

Wed 15 Apr 2020, 11:38

This is from my son who is 7: we did a traffic survey on the Slade. We found out it has gone down half way. Cars, lorries and trucks have gone down most. More vans are coming. 

Tue 14 Apr 2020, 23:33

For once, Pooles Lane is blissfully quiet. If only..........

Tue 14 Apr 2020, 22:50

So sad

Tue 14 Apr 2020, 18:36

The busiest roads seem to be the Spelsbury Road – Nine Acres Lane – the Slade – Fawler/Finstock road axis; like Susie, I’ve been surprised how busy they continue to be.

The centre of town is certainly much quieter, and the other roads out of town seem quieter too. I suspect Harriet’s right and some of it is people going to supermarkets in Witney.

Tue 14 Apr 2020, 18:05

I think what a lot of people misunderstand is that not everybody is off work. So there will still be people living in this area who need to travel through to Charlbury to supermarkets in Witney, they're probably taking on more staff of their usual people are off sick. If you work in an industry where you can be far enough away from another person to continue working then you're supposed to still be at work, the government has said they don't want the economy to totally collapse. In a rural area that's going to be easier for people than somewhere like London, so you'll have more traffic and more people able to work. We don't have a total lockdown yet. 

Tue 14 Apr 2020, 16:09

The buses are subsidised by the Government for key workers. We have, in fact, more buses to Chipping Norton than before, as many of the buses back from Oxford are now routed through Charlbury (except on Sundays and Bank Holidays). They don't go down to The Bell, although buses to Oxford still start from there.

But, yes, it's very busy today, including many tankers again on the Ditchley Rd, after a break of several days.

Tue 14 Apr 2020, 16:00

We live on fiveways, traffic is just like a normal day. And why are buses running to Oxford nobody on them, a waist of money. 

Tue 14 Apr 2020, 15:33

I am wondering that as well. Saw 4 young people in one small hatchback going at quite a clip on Spelsbury Rd.

Tue 14 Apr 2020, 15:18 (last edited on Tue 14 Apr 2020, 15:19)

We have far too much traffic going through Charlbury.  Pictures on the news show of deserted streets in London and elsewhere.  Why not here.  Our garden backs onto the Slade (unfortunately) and all you can hear is continual cars whizzing along.  If we are not meant to be doing non essential journeys then why are so many cars going through Charlbury?