The Headington subway across the London Road is under threat!

Oxfordshire County Council is currently drawing up plans as part of its 'London Road Study'. These plans include closing the Headington subway, even though it is a popular and colourful part of our community, which greatly assists residents in crossing the busy London Road.

Local Lib Dem councillors Patrick Murray, Stephen Tall and Roz Smith are campaigning to improve the London Road for everyone: pedestrians, cyclists, bus passengers and motorists.

We believe closing the Headington subway will make life more dangerous for children, the disabled and all other pedestrians who have come to rely on it.

Headington subway saved from closure - for the moment

Cllrs David Rundle and Stephen Tall campaigning to save the London Road subway

A big thank you to the 300+ residents who have signed the Headington Lib Dems' petition to save the London Road subway. Our action has given the subway a stay of execution until 2009.

The County Council's Transport Decisions Committee met on 9th September, and agreed to defer the closure, and investigate the impact it would have on traffic flow.

Since the Headington Lib Dems began the petition in the summer, we have been taken aback by quite how popular the subway is with so many residents, not just among Headington's more elderly residents, but especially with parents. They welcome the 100% safety of the subway, compared with the inevitable risk associated with pedestrian crossings.

However, to be honest, the County Council was less swayed by that argument than the increased disruption that would occur if the subway were replaced with another pedestrian crossing. After all, the whole point of the London Road Study was to reduce congestion and pollution in central Headington. Removing a subway and replacing it with another set of traffic lights seemed a bizarre way to try and achieve that goal.

Of course, the campaign is far from over. The removal of the subway seems still to be the County's preferred option, and the delay appears to be their way of buying them time to prove how much better a pedestrian crossing will work. We have two years to reason with them, and persuade them otherwise!