Charlbury crossroads

Fri 7 Oct 2022, 11:15

At risk of labouring the point, there is regular HGV traffic through Charlbury other than tractors, Co-Op delivery vehicles and event traffic.

There is some kerbstone damage along the pavement edge already, I see.  However, as James has said, the objectives around the crossroads relate to road safety.  The volume of heavy traffic and its speed present a significant risk to pedestrians and cyclists; the left turn issues in particular are an object lesson to the challenges faced by cyclists.

Fri 7 Oct 2022, 11:00 (last edited on Fri 7 Oct 2022, 11:03)

Gareth, I'm not an expert on HGV restrictions, and if you say that working agricultural machinery and double decker buses (which do exceed the 7.5 weight limit) will be exempt from any proposed weight ban, I will believe you. But then what's the point of the proposed restrictions? This is what most of the large traffic is, except in relation to Cornbury -- and Wilderness, of course. 

As for lorries with drivers shopping at Fiveways, I haven't seen that. But I have very recently seen some parked near the Enstone Crossroads with the driver and passenger then walking down to the Coop. 

Fri 7 Oct 2022, 10:33

Christine, it is perfectly possible to restrict through lorry traffic without affecting farm vehicles.  And unless you can tell us differently, a ban on HGVs would not block buses, or smaller vehicles using the route between Enstone and Witney.  I suspect the economic benefit from passing trade is unlikely to be catastrophic; I’ve not seen an articulated lorry parked up at Fiveways Stores for a while

Fri 7 Oct 2022, 09:46 (last edited on Fri 7 Oct 2022, 09:47)

Rather baffled by the suggestion that Charlbury residents might want to campaign for a HGV weight limit of 7.5 tons at the Enstone crossroads. 

How would the agricultural machinery and the many huge agricultural trucks and trailers that currently turn at the Enstone crossroads access the farms and fields at the top of the Ditchley Rd? Or would they be exempt from the ban? And, if so, what would be the point of any such ban? 

I think those living in the centre of town sometimes don't realise just how much agricultural traffic comes through the area. But we are, after all, still an agricultural area, and need to keep being so given the current concerns about food security. This would be particularly difficult for those farmers who have fields on the Banbury Rd and also at the top of the Ditchley Rd, but would affect many other agricultural businesses as well. 

Any such ban would also impact badly on the traffic generated by Wilderness and other Cornbury events, as we saw this year when work at the crossroads needed to be postponed during the set-up and taking-down of Wilderness. 

Any such ban would also presumably mean that The Slade/Enstone Rd would no longer be the main route between Witney and Banbury, with trade lost to the town. And it would make it more likely that we would lose the late night buses that turn right at that crossroads. 

There must be better solutions to the problem than this one! And actually, so far, the slight redesign of the pavement area has made things better for walking into town, for me at least. 

Fri 7 Oct 2022, 07:48

Alex - the Town Council has no power to do so.

The County Council does, but generally chooses not to.  The mess when Liam Walker brought in the Burford lorry ban without thinking where the lorries might go instead, and then campaigned to reverse his ban because they were going through his county division hasn’t helped.

The silver lining from that mess, though, is that the county is supposed to be putting together a new HGV strategy using lessons learned.  If people thought it worthwhile, perhaps we could campaign for what you suggest?

Thu 6 Oct 2022, 23:51

I've never understood why the Town Council doesn't put a 7.5 ton weight limit in place. It would cut out much of the Enstone crossroads misery without affecting Charlbury bound deliveries. A non-brainer really.

Thu 6 Oct 2022, 10:47

Just a warning to pedestrians....yesterday evening, the Co-op lorry coming from Enstone drove over the new bit of pavement by the Toll House as though it wasn't there, presumably because the driver was familiar with the old road shape. Best to be very careful there until the white lining is done.

Tue 4 Oct 2022, 13:37

Speeding is a big problem at Enstone crossroads. The works at the crossroads are intended to slow traffic by narrowing the carriageway. The work was measured by the County Council to ensure that articulated vehicles can still get around the corner (although they may, as they always have done in fact, need to encroach into the oncoming carriage way to get around the bend).

The reason for widening the pavement outside the old Toll House is to give drivers another couple of of visibility from the end of the Slade along Enstone Rd towards Banbury Hill. The white lining hasn't been put in yet yet but when it is, way lines will be marked from the new corner to the bus stop. You can see how much more visibility drivers will gain if you stand at the end of footpath that runs behind the Toll House that John would like to demolish (!) look across the junction down Enstone Rd into town.

Moving pavements even in fairly minor ways takes (as you will have seen) a lot of time and it also takes a lot of money. In the medium term, it is clear that more pedestrian-friendly interventions will need to be made here, for example a zebra crossing or more. The reason these works went ahead when they did, without installing other infrastructure that will make the junction safer, is that the crossroads was scheduled to be resurfaced anyway and it made sense to do the essential road surfacing maintenance at the same time as beginning to make the junction safer to use.

Mon 3 Oct 2022, 17:26

In relation to John’s comment. I think that is a wonderful idea. Let us demolish houses that may have been part of the town fabric since before the invention of the car. That way we could turn Charlbury into a service station, with 8 lanes of traffic hurtling up and down Banbury hill at 70mph without a turn in sight. 

Mon 3 Oct 2022, 16:55

Oh dear lord the traffic lights are back!!!

Sun 2 Oct 2022, 17:23

I have often seen cars not stop at zebra crossings, especially the speed they come down Banbury hill. Traffic lights would have been good. The build out hopefully should help.

Sun 2 Oct 2022, 15:36

John, when I first came to Charlbury in 1970, the estate agent showed me the Toll Cottage.  He said that there was a plan to build a slip road from the Enstone Road to the Slade.  So the Cottage would have been on an island surrounded by roads.I assume that’s why some of the houses on The Green have their front doors facing on to what is now the footpath.  This new road never happened and the land was built on but it would have solved the problem.

Sun 2 Oct 2022, 14:16

A mini roundabout with give way markings, might be preferable to traffic lights? 

Sun 2 Oct 2022, 14:11

All widening the pavement at the Toll House is going to do, is force traffic from Enstone turning into the Slade, to make an even wider turn into on coming traffic, could be deadly!. . Years ago there was a plan to demolish the two houses there to widen the junction,as they did at 5Ways. This problem would not be there if this had happened .John Harrison

Sun 2 Oct 2022, 12:55

 Not traffic lights but maybe zebra crossing 

Sun 2 Oct 2022, 10:15

Traffic lights at the crossroads? , I agree 100%. 

Sun 2 Oct 2022, 09:03

The pavement around the former toll house has been widened.  Other work included drainage replacement.  White lining (on a different alignment) still needs doing.

The traffic lights provided a very effective form of calming.  Perhaps they could have left them there.

Sat 1 Oct 2022, 17:40

All the barriers and traffic lights were removed yesterday, but, apart from tarmac on the pavement, could anyone enlighten what has actually been done? I thought we were having traffic calming ?  If that's traffic calming is not working. Nor is the 20 limit. Sorry. 

Sat 1 Oct 2022, 14:46

How much longer is the work scheduled to take there?