James Webster’s Weblog

The proposed Cogges Link road is not a good answer, Shores Green is a better answer but what is the question?

If the question is how can we reduce the congestion in Witney then Cogges Link and Shores Green are valid choices but they fall for the simplistic assumption that by building more roads congestion will decrease. Anyone who has done process engineering, trying to eliminate bottle necks, will know that when you remove one you create another. The congestion in Witney acts as a deterrent to drive so a certain number of people will choose alternate routes, vehicles or times. If sufficient demand exists then moving the bottlenecks and adding capacity will result in more journeys.

I won’t argue against adding capacity, I loath queuing traffic, but extra capacity alone is a 20th century solution. The town council leaflet uses the e-word several times. How can a proposal that bisects the only piece of natural land the public has access to in Witney ever claim to have environmental credentials.

This is Caleb sitting in country park, as far as I can tell the proposed road will cut through about 20m from where he was sitting.

What we need is a joined up planning strategy to support and promote Witney while reducing the number of cars coming into and travelling through the town. The government has committed us all to 80% cuts in CO2. Let’s fix the congestion and have genuine benefits to the environment and to peoples daily lives.

My suggestion:

- Build the Shores Green junction and…
- Start a super-frequent £1 bus service from Madley Park and Cogges
- Depending on how radical you want to be: Shut the bottom of Newland to either all cars or to single occupancy cars during peak hours

The Implications:
- Cars are forced onto A40 or the Woodstock road
- but Newland becomes much quieter
- Stagecoach buses coming in from Oxford takes less time (they use Newland)
- (hopefully) frequent buses from the main housing areas mean it’s quicker and easier than driving (along all routes)
- reduced (not just re-routed) traffic improves

So planners: make a bold choice and make a modern choice don’t be afraid to walk away from a two decade old plan.