Fawler road closure

Tue 25 Aug, 19:01

Today, one of the workers told us that the Fawler Road should be open again by the weekend....

Mon 24 Aug, 09:44

one.network is the canonical site for roadworks across the UK. All the closure dates are on there. Type ‘Charlbury’ into the search box and click on the roadworks icons.

Mon 24 Aug, 09:13

Does any one know on a day-to-day basis what road is closed; what road is open; what the traffic lights are controlling. All I see is the confusing blanket statement and plan put up by the Town Clerk under the instructions of SGN - very difficult to interpret in real time. And so it goes on into October -n the words of one of my favourite magazines "I think we should be told" I certainly think we deserve better.

Mon 24 Aug, 08:08 (last edited on Mon 24 Aug, 08:13)

At the end of the day it’s some slightly inconvenient roadworks, we just have to suck it up and get on 

with it. “This too shall pass” 

Mon 24 Aug, 07:10

Am I right in thinking that if I urgently need an eye test I actually can't easily get to Witney without taking a while day off work by public transport and I'm going to have to wait until this work is finished?

Sat 22 Aug, 22:23

Whoever he is, it is sad that someone who is involved in sustainable transport is not building a sustainable house.

Sat 22 Aug, 18:47

The gas work is not being done for the benefit of a Lord -- Lord Anthony Bamford is the father of Jo who lives at Charlbury House.  The two can't be equated, given that, in May this year, Lord B. named Jo's younger brother, George, as the son would inherit and take over the JCB family firm and manufacturing empire.

I had wondered if disinheriting his oldest son was, in part, because of a difference of political opinion. Lord B has been and still is a great (financial) supporter of the Conservative Party (especially Boris Johnson), and now also donates to Reform. By contrast, Jo has recently expressed his admiration for the "brilliant" Andy Burnham. This is perhaps because Jo is the owner of Wrightbus which manufactures electric and hydrogen buses from a base in Northern Ireland -- and much of Andy Burnham's success has been put down to his re-organisation of the Manchester bus network, and he now wants a similar model rolled out to other British regions.

It is, however, ironic that it is taking so long to get into Witney by car and bus, given that in Utah a couple of weeks ago a hydrogen car produced by one of Jo Bamford's other firms smashed the land-speed record for a hydrogen-powered car at 406+ m.p.h. 

Sat 22 Aug, 11:40

It would be nice if the local lord who is going to benefit from this disruption could compensate us commoners for said disruption.

Thu 20 Aug, 10:51

Even if you do have a smartphone, the diversion seems to be confusing the real-time tracking.

I believe OCC has installed solar-powered real-time bus displays at a handful of locations recently – hopefully Charlbury is on the list for one (or several). 

Until then, if anyone has a window next to a bus stop and an old tablet to put in it, I can set you up a bus departures board webpage which you could permanently display on the tablet for the use of waiting passengers!

Thu 20 Aug, 10:21

The works are going on until mid-September.

The 10:35 to Witney is cancelled

The 9:15 to Chipping Norton was cancelled

None of these are showing as cancelled on either app in the Live Departures. It is only when you go into the Service Updates on the Pulhams app does it show.

The buses are already running 20 minutes to an hour late, and now they are not turning up at all.

Lots of us don’t have smart phones, so do we all just turn up and hope for the best.

I asked the OBC/Go Ahead about installing live departure boards but that is the responsibility of the council.

Tue 18 Aug, 20:52

Does anyone know if the X9 is still going via the Woodstock Rd to Witney?

Fri 14 Aug, 18:20

Looking just now on the tracker, the X9 went up the Woodstock Rd and is now going down The Ridings into Stonesfield, from where I guess it will go back out via Fawler and rejoin the Witney Rd...

Fri 14 Aug, 17:43

does anyone know if the X9 has an adapted schedule due to road closure? or is it just a matter of checking where the bus is on the website?

Fri 14 Aug, 16:02

Not sure there’s any need to be so continuously unpleasant, Charlie. Anyone can do this work if you require specific services to your house, and of course if you are willing to pay for the installation. We’re not on mains gas, but could be if we’re willing to fund the infrastructure, installation, and road closure costs (which we’re not). If the Bamford’s are happy to do that, if indeed that’s who this is for, then that’s up to them.

Thu 13 Aug, 16:03

Well well well 
Who'd have thunk it
We know that Dean Pit was closed so that us commoners would not spoil the view of certain people living nearby taking tea on their terrace ...
... it seems now that a newer "local lot" can just get roads closed for whatever reason!

Thu 13 Aug, 15:56

Yes, we must have had the same SGN guy knock on our door. He was super helpful and said they would try to keep disruption to a minimum as works move down Woodstock Road and then onto Stonesfield Lane. He said they wouldn’t need to close the Woodstock Road but that there would be traffic lights, to be moved in stages, as the works progress.

Thu 13 Aug, 15:47

The nice lad from SGN, who knocked on my door earlier, advised that they were starting the Woodstock Road section next week and that it was for the Bamford's.

Thu 13 Aug, 15:26

SGN are connecting gas mains to Charlbury House

Thu 13 Aug, 15:13

It is for gas mains replacement.  The work is being done by SGN

Thu 13 Aug, 15:10

I thought it was for gas main replacement,.John H

Thu 13 Aug, 13:30 (last edited on Thu 13 Aug, 17:45)

An engineer has just told me they are putting in pipes usually used to supply entire London skyscrapers. 

Thu 13 Aug, 12:32

It turns out that this work is for the benefit of the Bamford's.......

Tue 11 Aug, 07:59

Maybe the powers that be at Cornbury would allow a right-of-way through the North Entrance and through to the Finstock Road for the duration of the work?! That would be most beneficial!

No ... I thought not! 

Mon 10 Aug, 22:10

Don’t particularly fancy the tree roots on the footpath. Might try it 

Mon 10 Aug, 19:56

Can you go through Cornbury and then back down the road from Finstock?

Mon 10 Aug, 17:56

Unfortunately I need to get to the solar farm so that’s a real nuisance. I’ve just tried it. Definitely a no go

Mon 10 Aug, 16:45

I haven't tried it but I'd be surprised if you could. But you could, of course, cycle through Cornbury (or Stonesfield Lane if you have chunky tyres!).

The X9 is going via the Woodstock Road and Stonesfield, which this morning led to it arriving about half an hour late into Witney.

Mon 10 Aug, 16:34

I'm assuming that I can cycle through the roadworks. Has anyone tried that?

Mon 10 Aug, 16:23

It is completely closed.  

Mon 10 Aug, 15:28

It was firmly blocked off at Fiveways this morning.

Mon 10 Aug, 15:17

Does anyone know if its actually closed?  Google maps seems to suggest that there is traffic passing, just slowly.

Mon 10 Aug, 15:01

That's good for the S3. Less so for the X9.

Mon 10 Aug, 13:39 (last edited on Mon 10 Aug, 13:53)

The S3 is missing out Fawler and part of Stonesfield, and travelling instead via Longore, Woodstock Rd and the B4437. See their timetable update online which runs from 7 August to 9 September. 

The impacted bus stops are Stonesfield Green, Boot Street, also Fawler Main Street. A temporary bus top is being installed on Longore in Stonesfield 

This means that the S3 is not currently much delayed in Charlbury. The Stagecoach app is showing the S3 running more or less to time. 

Mon 10 Aug, 13:02

Buses are being delayed by an hour in both directions due to the road works on the Fawler Road and also in Spelsbury. I assume the S3 will also be delayed. 

Fri 7 Aug, 08:45 (last edited on Fri 7 Aug, 08:50)

This is what I have received from SGN who are replacing the gas main: "To help minimise disruption, Phase one has been planned around the Cornbury House Horse Trials from 9 to 13 September and we will be working directly with the event organisers to ensure access arrangements are clearly communicated to competitors, visitors, and the wider event network."

Fri 7 Aug, 05:59

The amount of Horse boxes which come through Charlbury to this event is significant. Some are large and struggle to negotiate the road to the entrance they use off of the road from Charlbury to Witney. I can only hope that if the road is still closed that Cornbury advise all of the attendees to come through Witney. Currently, I can't see any mention of it on their website.

Thu 6 Aug, 22:34

I often travel this road from my daughter's in Finstock to Charlbury and had the same thoughts about Cornbury events which I raised with Lizz Leffman.  This is her reply. 

"Wilderness will be over on August 2nd, so the traffic should be finished by August 10th, as they are usually pretty quick to remove everything and take it to the next festival. Most of that traffic will be going from the North entrance towards Woodstock or Enstone, so shouldn't cause any issues along Leafield Road. Similarly the traffic setting up for the horse trials will usually access the site through the North entrance, so is unlikely to cause any problems through Leafield." 

I'm not sure I share her confidence.

Thu 6 Aug, 21:24

The horses are innocent until proven otherwise! ;-)

Thu 6 Aug, 20:59

Assuming it is shut for the full period of time, surely this will have a huge impact on the Cornbury Horse Trial traffic?

Wed 5 Aug, 23:40

You need to go either via leafield to Finstock or fawler via Stonesfield.  Time wise I doubt there is much in it - really depends on where you are in Charlbury 

Wed 5 Aug, 21:21

Anyone know the proposed diversion route or can tell me what the quickest route is to Witney from charlbury with the road closures due to start soon? Thank you