Oxfordshire Local Transport Plan 2011 -2030 April 2011 Transport in Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a vibrant county in the heart of England where a thriving economy blends successfully with a high quality environment. Oxfordshire is the most rural county in south east England but can boast having a pivotal role in world leading scientific and energy research, international publishing, bio-technology, car manufacture and motor sport industries. It has a highly qualified workforce, low unemployment, good standards of health and life expectancy and low levels of crime. Although generally prosperous, there are areas in Oxfordshire which are among the most deprived in the country. Oxfordshire has a well developed network of major roads, railways and high quality bus services. However, there are several critical pinch points – on the A34 Trunk Road, especially between Didcot and M40; on the A40 between Witney and Headington; around the Oxford Ring Road; on the rail corridor through Oxford; and on routes in and around our main towns. This Plan aims to tackle these problems, in the context of delivering local economic growth. ∗ Highway schemes to enable development at Science Vale, Bicester and Oxford Oxfordshire has significant plans for future economic and ∗ Expansion and enhancement of our high quality bus housing growth: major housing development is planned in network with new services, expansion of Park & Ride, Science Vale at Grove/Wantage & Didcot; at Bicester (Eco targeted bus priority and low carbon hybrid vehicles Town) and Oxford; employment is proposed at Bicester, operating on main corridors under a groundbreaking Oxford northern gateway and in Science Vale (at Harwell quality partnership Science and Innovation Campus, Milton Park and Culham). ∗ Development of strategic cycle networks to support There will also be significant development at other locations clusters of development, e.g. at Science Vale, including including Banbury, Carterton and Witney. hubs at key locations and hire facilities ∗ Targeted local transport schemes to support growth & The major challenge is to secure the infrastructure and the economy, for example at Witney (the Cogges Link services required to support this growth. An essential part of Road and A40/Downs Road junction) and Banbury this is the transport investment required for strategic road and (capacity enhancements on the north-south route) rail networks, which includes: As part of all this, opportunities will be taken to develop a low ∗ Strategic rail, linking Science Vale, Oxford and Bicester carbon economy and innovative solutions through promotion to the national & international network – in particular of high quality public transport, provision for low emission / supporting the delivery of the east west rail and electric vehicles. This will be complemented by considering Chiltern Railways Evergreen 3 projects together with a ways to modify travel behaviour, including targeted major upgrade to Oxford and Didcot stations and electrification of Great Western railway personalised travel planning, promoting and incentivising car sharing and working with key local partners on travel planning. At the same time, we will continue to maintain and enhance our core activities – maintaining the road network, supporting rural Oxfordshire through funding local bus and other services and continuing to reduce casualties on our roads. The current challenging financial and funding position means that there is a greater than ever need to be clear about our priorities for investment. This means a focus on: ∗ Maintaining our highway asset ∗ Delivering growth & the infrastructure needed to make this work ∗ Supporting local community needs ∗ Finding lower cost solutions and making best use of what we have ∗ Securing partnership and ‘match’ funding to secure best value for money from public spending Our goals for transport aim to make Oxfordshire attractive for Develop and increase cycling and walking for local existing residents and businesses as well as for new journeys, recreation and health development. This can only be achieved through close working with local communities and businesses to find Each of these objectives has been rated as high, medium or realistic solutions to help respond to the transport impacts of low priority for different parts of the county. We will use these their activities. priorities as the basis for assessing individual schemes and developing our implementation programme for the Plan. A set of 9 objectives will form the basis for our actions in delivering this Plan: We have developed a series of general policies to guide the Improve the condition of local roads, footways and future development of transport over the course of the Plan cycleways, including resilience to climate change together with more specific policies for each of the 9 Reduce congestion objectives. Reduce casualties and the dangers associated with travel Our general policies for transport in Oxfordshire are as Improve accessibility to work, education and services follows: Secure infrastructure and services to support development Policy G1 Oxfordshire County Council will seek to Reduce carbon emissions from transport implement this Local Transport Plan as and Improve air quality, reduce other environmental when funding becomes available, including impacts and enhance the street environment seeking funding from local communities, Develop and increase the use of high quality, developers and other external sources. welcoming public transport Policy G2 Oxfordshire County Council will give a ∗ transport improvements within and higher priority to expenditure on maintaining around Eco-Bicester. existing transport assets than to improvements to the network in the early Policy G5 Oxfordshire County Council will support years of the Plan. sustainable, healthy and inclusive modes of travel and promote changes in travel Policy G3 Oxfordshire County Council will work to behaviour to these modes. ensure that the transport network can meet the requirements of the county’s world class Policy G6 Oxfordshire County Council will take into economy, whilst protecting the environment account the location, best use of space and and the amenity of Oxfordshire residents. the potential need to prioritise particular movements or users when designing Policy G4 Oxfordshire County Council will seek, as a schemes. priority, external funding to deliver: Policy G7 Oxfordshire County Council will consult from ∗ improvements to the transport network to develop access to Oxford from an early stage in the development of other towns and regions; schemes and initiatives so that the needs of all groups, including disabled people, are ∗ transport improvements within the considered and, where appropriate, acted Science Vale UK area (Didcot – upon Harwell – Wantage & Grove); and Highway Maintenance Policy HM3 Oxfordshire County Council will use best practice in developing sustainable Objective 1 drainage systems for roads and other Improve the condition of local roads, footways and transport assets. cycleways, including resilience to climate change Our Strategy for highway maintenance will include: Our core priority for highway maintenance is to deliver a safe, ∗ Maintaining roads to minimise long-term costs serviceable and sustainable network, taking into account the ∗ Setting service standards related to the importance of need to contribute to the wider objectives of asset routes in the county's road hierarchy management, integrated transport, corporate policy and ∗ continuous improvement. Maintaining our assets will be our The development of networks that are resilient to the priority, at least for the first few years of the Plan. impact of climate change The range of maintenance activities that will be covered by Policy HM1 Oxfordshire County Council will use a these policies will include: whole life approach for determining and ∗ Carriageway structural maintenance and reconstruction delivering its highway maintenance ∗ Footway schemes programme. ∗ Surface Dressing Treatments ∗ General structural maintenance and smaller schemes Policy HM2 Oxfordshire County Council will seek to ∗ develop a programme of community-led, Bridge maintenance ∗ low-cost highway maintenance schemes. Routine operations (including gully emptying, verge clearance etc) subsoil. They can also increase flood risk because dry, hard ∗ Village maintenance packed soil is less able to absorb water when higher intensity ∗ Road markings and signs rainfall occurs. ∗ Seasonal maintenance Measures to mitigate the effects of severe weather events can ∗ Electrical maintenance include the specification of more resilient assets and ∗ Drainage Improvements materials, or higher capacity drainage solutions where they are likely to be more susceptible to the effects of extreme The majority of our funds for highway maintenance will be weather events or climate change. allocated using a system based on: ∗ Carriageway and footway condition surveys For new developments, we will investigate sustainable ∗ Skid resistance surveys draining systems before any other solutions are considered - ∗ Wet skid accident records these reduce run-off and increase water storage and can ∗ Place in the network hierarchy significantly contribute to controlling flood risk. We will prepare and review flood risk and in high risk areas undertake ∗ Importance of route in bus network flood risk assessment and develop management plans. ∗ Accident claims ∗ On-site inspections We are committed to keeping a network of