Oxford Botley Road traders fearful as Network Rail backtrack
The rail authority is carrying out a £161m upgrade of Oxford[1] rail station which has left the major route at the rail bridge closed since April.
It had promised to reopen the road from October 29 to March 2024.
But, in a shock announcement on Tuesday (September 19), the company scrapped these plans and said the stretch of road would remain closed until October 2024.[3]
Diggers on the Botley Road site, next to the station, earlier this month (Image: Oxford Mail)
The top bosses have apologised for the disappointment to residents and businesses.
For business owners, who had banked on recovering their losses over Christmas after a difficult year of trading, the extended closure has come as a blow.
Earlier this week, Hera Rahnamay had been excitedly telling her customers at Hera salon that the road would soon reopen.
Hera Rahnamay had excitedly told customers at Hera salon that the road would reopen by October (Image: Albert Tait)
“I was really happy, telling my customers that it would reopen by October and there would be no issue,” said the 35-year-old owner of the hair salon.
“It is so disappointing and sad it won’t reopen then. We’re a small business. We’ve only been open for two-and-a-half years.”
Since the road closed in April, Mrs Rahnamay said people had been cancelling appointments when they realised they couldn’t access her salon from the Botley Road from the direction of the city centre.
“It’s very easy for people who live in this area to come to us – they don’t have an issue – but we have a problem when people find us on Google,” she said.
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“They book one or two weeks in advance, but when they come and see the road is closed, they call me to cancel their appointment.
“They’ll say they have young children, and they don’t have time to go around the ring road.”
Network Rail said the decision to extend the works was due to a number of ‘unique challenges’.
Work on the station and railway upgrade had to be paused in June after contractors unearthed an inverted brick arch, thought to be part of the original Victorian drainage system.
Network Rail knew about the Victorian arch before work began, but it was larger than expected.
Even though the project switched to 24-hour working in August, the delays encountered by contractors meant the Botley Road works had to be extended.
Dale Crutcher, Network Rail’s industry programme director for Greater Oxford area, said: “This project is extremely complex and has been made even more challenging by the extent of the brick arch underneath the road…
“I understand this will be disappointing for residents and businesses, and I’m sorry for the disruption this will cause.”
Zack Khan, owner of First Stop Spanner Works tyre shop, criticised the communication from Network Rail over the extended closure, as he only found out about it after reading the Oxford Mail.
Zack Khan, owner of First Stop Spanner Works tyre shop, criticised the communication from Network Rail over the extended closure (Image: Albert Tait)
“They have got all our contact details and said they would inform us straightaway on any changes, and on the first occasion, they have broken their promise,” said Mr Khan, 49, who described the extended closure as “devastating.”
“We are in a stranglehold with this and the works on the A34. A lady came from Headington the other day and said it had taken two hours to get to us.
“Christmas is historically more busy because cars break down in the cold. We were hoping to regain some of the losses we have suffered, but that will be difficult now.”
Steve Stuart, co-owner of Warlands cycle shop, had also looked forward to a “bounce in sales” over the festive season.
Steve Stuart said Warlands cycle shop was down around 10 per cent in turnover this year (Image: Albert Tait)
“We’re going to be down around 10 per cent in turnover this year, and a proportion of that is down to the road closure,” he said.
“I think that other businesses on the Botley Road are going to be affected more than us.
“I was looking forward to the road being open again and that we would see a bounce in sales.”
Oxford West and Abingdon[9] MP Layla Moran has written to the Department for Transport asking whether Network Rail had all explored all possible options to avoid the extended closure.
She said: “Local businesses have suffered significant disruption but will have been planning for the road to reopen ahead of Christmas and will be justifiably concerned about the impact on their Christmas trade.
“The news will come to as a blow to all.”
Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County[10] Council’s cabinet member for highways management thanked “residents, commuters and businesses” for their “patience and understanding.”
References
- ^ Oxford (www.heraldseries.co.uk)
- ^ Oxford flat block fire being treated as arson by police (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)
- ^ stretch of road would remain closed until October 2024. (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)
- ^ https://t.co/X7IOnawrD3 (t.co)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/LQlTkCrm8o (t.co)
- ^ September 13, 2023 (twitter.com)
- ^ Oxfordshire fraudster fleeced £12K from step-gran online (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)
- ^ Three teens arrested in connection with Oxfordshire burglary (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)
- ^ Abingdon (www.heraldseries.co.uk)
- ^ County (www.heraldseries.co.uk)