The more times I read Councillor Gants objections, the more I think he's lost it. If residents in Wolvercote/Godstow want to use Sainsbury's in Kidlington, why on earth would they want to drive along Sunderland Avenue to then turn onto Banbury/Oxford Road? The quickest, and shortest route would take them along the A44 to join Frieze Way.
Likewise, to suggest that anyone would be inconvenienced by not using the Banbury/Oxford Road is nonsense. He says the A40 between the Wolvercote and Cutteslowe roundabouts (Sunderland Avenue) has frontages on both sides, some direct onto the road, some set back on access roads. It's a dual carriageway for the most part and a major arterial route between the two roundabouts. Is that going to change because the Oxford Road is restricted on occasion for up to 30 minutes? Really?
Five Mile Drive offers a potential “rat-run” through a wide,straight, residential road which already suffers from this kind of behaviour. Sounds like the perfect location for LTN's to be installed. That would put a stop to any of that nonsense. - Works in East Oxford, doesn't it? And, if the suggestion is that cars leaving the Park & Ride were to use Five Mile Drive as a rat run, what would it gain them? Anyone wishing to get home after a match would surely be looking to join the ring road at the roundabout at the A40. Anyone looking to travel to the North and West would have no issue in waiting a few minutes and then joining Frieze Way and not trouble North Oxford at all.
I am not aware that the potential effects of the closure proposed in this application have been factored into that modelling. The closure cannot be agreed or considered acceptable unless and until that is done. This is, at least, a small concession. Further traffic modelling, very possibly utilising the alternate version already mentioned. If that proves him and his puppet masters wrong, then he should retract his objection and make that public via the Cabinet to OCC.
He rambles on about preventing folk getting to Sainsbury's from the south which, as an argument against the stadium just doesn't add up. He should maybe ask Sainsbury's for their opinion.
He also seems convinced that the "rush hour" extends well into the evening and that Oxford/Banbury road is a major factor. I would love to see what the traffic modelling thinks of that claim.
I also take issue with his apparent stance that anyone attending a stadium has little or no right to utilise public parking such as Park & Ride locations. Why not Councillor? Why can they not utilise public transport, the railway etc? Are you saying that if I wish to visit Oxford and then attend a football match that I be precluded from using any of the Park & Ride locations? Not to mention that there will be so many of us travelling by car that the locations will have insufficient space for us all. Deluded.
And all this from the OCC Cabinet member for transport. Unbelievable.
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