By Alison Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Oxfordshire County Council\u2019s Transport Decisions meeting on the 29th<\/sup> April, Councillor Yvonne Constance ruled that the barriers at the south end of Walton Street should be removed when the traffic regulation order times out on the 18th<\/sup> May, and that there should be no alternative scheme in place to restrict traffic along Walton Street and Kingston Road. After 18 months of promises of a better Jericho, her recommendation was to do nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the barrier was in place, the ability to walk and cycle safely on Kingston Road and Walton St and to enjoy clean air and minimal traffic noise was joyful. Now we will see a return to what the roads were like before: congested, polluted, noisy, unsafe.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cyclox, along with our active travel partners, has been a whole-hearted supporter of low traffic neighbourhoods across the city, knowing they make for liveable neighbourhoods, which, once the invariable opposition has blown through, have been welcomed by residents and businesses.\u00a0We have participated in all the consultations<\/a> on LTNs.\u00a0 We have helped our members resident in areas where consultations and surveys were undertaken to contribute their views and ideas.\u00a0We know that there is considerable, if quiet, community support for LTNs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The surveys and petitions about the Jericho LTN have demonstrated that support:<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the local councillors representing the residents of Jericho and Walton Manor want traffic restrictions too. These councillors know their communities and at the meeting on the 29th<\/sup> expressed their bewilderment at the recommendation to do nothing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cllr Constance herself said in the meeting last August, that \u201cThe most important thing was to recognise that everyone wanted less traffic\u201d.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n All of this shows that every time the Council consulted on what the public wants, there has been a clear majority in favour of restricting through-traffic. Even Jericho Connections, a group that has not supported the LTN, accepts that some traffic restrictions are the way forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So it is inexplicable why the council, at the eleventh hour, reneged on earlier promises and presented a proposal so poor that only a minority were prepared to accept it. This decision backtracks on the council\u2019s own commitments to active travel, improving air quality and tackling the climate emergency. This can\u2019t be the end of the road for a better Jericho. <\/p>\n\n\n\n