Oxfordshire County Council logo
Graphic of cyclist, pedestrian, bus and traffic light.

East Oxford low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs)

Please be aware that from 13 March we are replacing LTN bollards at all sites in east Oxford and Cowley. This involves removing the existing plastic bollards, preparing the site with new sockets and allowing for these to set in place before installing timber bollards. This will mean a slight delay between the installation of the new sockets and installation of the bollards. The LTN traffic restrictions remain in place during the short period while there is not a bollard in place on the site.

Bollard replacement

In March the plastic bollards in the east Oxford LTN areas will be replaced with new sturdier bollards. The new bollards will be timber, not steel, and have been chosen after liaising with our supply chain and taking learning from other areas that experienced similar issues.

Our contractors will begin removing all plastic bollards and homemade signage (including cones) while installing plates over the holes to make them safe before the new bollards arrive.

The Experimental Traffic Regulation Order enabling us to trial these LTNs remains in place and all roads within the LTN areas are fully accessible using alternative routes.

Improvements for the Cowley LTN areas are beginning in March after the Littlemore and Rose Hill by-election.

What are low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs)?

An LTN is an area where motorised traffic is prevented from taking shortcuts through a residential area. This creates quieter and safer streets where residents may feel more comfortable when making local journeys by cycling, wheeling or on foot.

All roads remain accessible, but drivers may have to find alternative routes instead of cutting through some streets.

LTN locations in east Oxford

The three low-traffic neighbourhoods in east Oxford are implemented in the in Divinity Road, St Clement's, and St Mary's areas. Please see the plans below.

The scheme has been implemented through an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) which runs for a maximum of 18 months.

Scheme background - ETRO consultation and decision-making (2022/23)

A public consultation to gather views on the experimental trial of the east Oxford low traffic neighbourhoods was open from 20 May until 30 November 2022.

A decision on the next steps for the scheme will be made by the county council’s cabinet later in 2023. Officers will make recommendations based on factors including, but not limited to, any feedback received, data collected on traffic levels, annual air pollution data (expected in spring/summer 2023) and levels of walking and cycling in these areas.

Previous consultation

The east Oxford LTNs were consulted on between March and June 2021, through a series of workshops, engagement activities and a public consultation in June 2021. 

The outcome of the engagement activities and public consultation was reported for Cabinet Member decision on 29 July 2021 at which time the decision was to undertake further engagement to address specific issues that had been identified. The report can be found here in item 4/21.

This resulted in some changes to the proposals which included  

  • Reduce the length of the two-way section in Howard Street, provide a contraflow cycle lane; 
  • Relocate filters on Howard Street and Barnet Street 
  • Redesign of the filter on Magdalen Road 

The outcome of the additional engagement was reported to a Cabinet Member for Decision meeting on 16 December 2021, and it was approved by Councillor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council to implement the proposals under an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO). The report can be found here in item 25/21.

Plans

Overview plans of the east Oxford LTN areas and locations of the filters are below along with details of a typical layout:

The works implemented consist of planters, parking restrictions, and bollards as detailed in the ‘Typical layout’ document; supported by advanced signage at the LTN areas.

Whilst closures are in place all routes will be accessible via different routes. This plan (pdf format, 1.1Mb) shows filter locations and has some examples for accessing amenities around the filters

Timetable of activity
Task Dates Status
Advance notification signs Beginning of April 2022 Complete 
Commence implementation of signs 19 April 2022 Complete
Installation of planters 16 - 19 May 2022 Complete
Installation of bollards 19 - 20 May 2022 Complete
ETRO consultation 'go-live' 20 May 2022 Complete
Consultation end October - November 2022 Complete
Cabinet decision Later in 2023  

More information

There is more information on our East Oxford low-traffic neighbourhoods – air quality, traffic sensors and data analysis page.

Also see our frequently asked questions page or email eastoxfordltn@oxfordshire.gov.uk