Strategic versus Local Scheme?

A Watlington Relief Road (WRR) is described by Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) as a new strategic route for all traffic from the west to and from M40 Junction 6. Motorised journeys, both locally and long distance, would be more attractive with shorter journey times for private car trips and road freight. The effect of schemes that increase capacity for traffic is they increase vehicle miles travelled (VMT), called induced traffic. Projected reduction in greenhouse gases by alleviating congestion is short lived.

Locally, the relief road is expected to influence route choice, easing congestion, noise and air quality through Watlington centre, but these local improvements can be achieved without doubling capacity by building a road and inducing and diverting more long distance traffic.  (see Alternatives).

The County Council made a planning application for the Watlington Relief Road in December 2023 (R3.0010/24). The scope for assessment of the scheme was local – Watlington only – with the County describing the road as having no strategic function and being a local road. However, this was not accepted by the planning authority, which decides the application. The strategic and local effects must be assessed as part of evaluating the environmental impacts of the scheme. New traffic modelling is required that includes diverted and induced traffic, before the application can be considered.

Oxfordshire like all highway authorities has to meet statutory carbon reduction targets for net zero road transport by 2050. A rapid transition is required of up to 55% reduction in emissions by 2030 and up to 90% by 2040. The county’s claim a WRR will contribute to reducing traffic has been repeatedly challenged – see Oxford Civic Society Transport Group and Objections. It is accepted that the scheme does not deter car journeys (WRR planning application R3.0010/24 PDAS 6.4.14).

Currently, HGVs and larger vehicles have to navigate a constrained route and are restricted by a 7.5 tonne weight limit to be in the area for local delivery and collection only. A purpose-designed HGV route with faster access to a nearby motorway junction increases space specifically for road freight, which has significant emissions and uncertain technology for decarbonisation.

Heritage, Landscape, Biodiversity and Flooding

A WRR is entirely in the setting of the Chilterns National Landscape (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The Chilterns Conservation Board contests that: “In removing the bottleneck of traffic in the town the bypass may attract and increase traffic, influencing route choice. In time development may be attracted to the land next to the bypass.” In fact, the County requires more housing than planned to fund its sections so urban sprawl is a necessity in a nationally important rural landscape of dark skies for the road to be built. The CCB has objected to the planning application. It specified that the very sensitive location meant that roundabout links needed to be ‘designed out’ of the highways engineering. Upstream of Watlington, all traffic passes through historic Shirburn, an environmentally sensitive area with a number of heritage properties including the Grade 1 Listed Shirburn Castle and its Registered Parkland. The scheme would cause NPPF harm to heritage assets. The proposed route would cross the rare ecosystem of Chalgrove Brook, chalk stream and Flood Zone 3/2. The local wildlife trust, the County’s landscape and biodiversity officers and the Environment Agency have objected on biodiversity, flooding and ground water concerns.

Road Safety

The county council has faced criticism for the lack of a Key Performance Indicator on road safety for the Watlington Relief Road (WRR), raising concerns against all good practice the County’s investment decision could increase road hazards. The scheme would not adopt national guidance or local road safety policies.

Surrounding parishes highlight that a WRR will increase traffic on fast, rural roads that are significantly more deadly, and reduce it on urban, or 20mph roads, where fewer, or no serious accidents or fatalities are recorded. The County Council has no plan to mitigate the increased hazard of more traffic where there are known black spots.

The county’s main road safety policy of 20mph would not apply to a WRR, despite the  county’s own transport control officers, on two occasions, and the County’s deputy leader and cabinet member for traffic management stating the road that serves new residential areas must be 20mph.  Where the road passes the school, dividing the site from its playing field, national guidance from the Department for Transport of 20mph would not be applied. The scheme would be 30mph.

More traffic, particularly HGVs, will discourage sustainable modes like cycling for trips between villages in favour of increased motorised transport. Not enough land has been negotiated by the County Council for dedicated cycle paths on both sides along the length of the relief road. The council says to do this would mean using its CPO powers for land acquisition, which it does not have time for. Outdated cycle facilities would be built, despite national guidance from the Department for Transport saying cycle infrastructure must meet the standards set out in advice note LTN 1/20. Active Travel England, the statutory consultee on cycle infrastructure, has called for the scheme to be deferred until standards are met.