We call on Oxfordshire County Council to remove Oxford’s traffic filter scheme, introduce flexible access arrangements during severe congestion and roadworks, and review Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) schemes and ANPR cameras where they restrict access to essential local services.
We ask Oxfordshire County Council & Oxford city Council to:
- Remove the traffic filters and reconsider the current approach to traffic management in Oxford, taking account of its impact on residents, businesses, carers and essential journeys.
- Introduce emergency access arrangements allowing vehicles to pass through traffic filters and LTN restrictions when roads are gridlocked, road closures or utility works significantly disrupt traffic flows, or the existing road network becomes impractical to use. These arrangements should be clear, timely and easy to implement.
- Review and relax LTN restrictions and ANPR enforcement where they create unreasonable barriers to essential local journeys, particularly where residents face lengthy diversions to reach shops, healthcare, community facilities and other vital services.
- Review access to the Cowley Centre from Littlemore, where traffic restrictions can make reaching an important local shopping destination more difficult. The Council should assess whether the current arrangements provide fair and practical access for residents, older people, disabled people, carers and local businesses.
- Consult affected communities and publish the evidence on journey times, congestion, accessibility, road safety and the impact of restrictions before deciding whether schemes should be retained, amended or removed.
Residents should not be left facing unnecessary diversions when Oxford’s roads are already severely congested or when essential roadworks disrupt the normal routes they rely upon.
Traffic management must work for the whole community. We therefore call on the Council to restore practical access, respond flexibly to disruption and reconsider restrictions that prevent residents from reaching essential local services.
I am limited to how far I can walk and this system cuts me off from the outside world. Cruel