Botley Road: Locals outraged as third delay caps off problematic works

The news that a major traffic artery into Oxford will remain closed for the foreseeable future has been met with disdain from residents, politicians and businesses alike.

The Botley Road was closed for six months as part of a £161m Network Rail project to expand Oxford station and improve services in April 2023.

However, a planned break in construction was cancelled and the reopening of the road was pushed back to October 2024 – with Network Rail now saying this deadline will not be met either.

The rail company said the project had been beset by “unique challenges”, including archaeological discoveries, leaks and now by the complex network of utility pipes in the area.

Network Rail is yet to confirm a new date after making the announcement that the road would not reopen in October on Thursday.

The work had originally been expected to start in January 2023 but was delayed as the company was not ready to begin.

The company has apologised for the latest delay, labelling it as “upsetting news”.

But locals told the BBC that the delays, and lack of accurate communication from the company, had been “utterly disgraceful”.

Resident Julian Le Vay told the BBC: “I’d like to say we’re surprised, but we’re not. Network Rail has missed every single deadline they set themselves since the start of this project.

“This is serial incompetence on a massive scale, that has done great harm to our community – family businesses driven to the wall, jobs lost, income slashed, many people’s lives affected.”

He added that the delays are “unforgivable” and criticised the lack of accountability from Network Rail.

Fellow local Ian Clarke, who has lived in the Botley area all of his life, said the latest update had been “just another kick in the teeth from Network Rail”.

He said he has to “run the gauntlet” every day to travel to and from work, adding: “There’s nothing to help us residents with what’s going on – it’s just carte blanche, and we’re fed up with being totally ignored.”

Mr Clarke also criticised the rail company’s communication: “They’ve lied to us before the operation even started, they’ve lied to us all the way through.”

“If you’d have asked anyone in this area if it was going to reopen in October they’d have said ‘no’ – no one believes Network Rail one iota,” he added.

Zac Iqbal, who runs a garage just off the Botley Road, said the situation was “dire” following the latest “bombshell”.

“All the businesses on the Botley Road have suffered over the last two years, and we were hoping that the road would open so we could go back to normal – this is just the last thing we wanted.”

“It’s just an impossible situation,” he said.

Mr Iqbal also questioned the reluctance of Network Rail to provide an updated deadline: “Businesses can’t plan like that, we need to invest – we’ve got staff, we’ve got costs, we need to know where our revenue stream’s going to come from.”

The garage owner said his business was in particular jeopardy, due to its reliance on customers being able to bring their cars in.

“We’re a garage, we need roads so that cars can drive to us, and at the moment we’re effectively cut off from the city centre.”

“If it hadn’t have been for the support from customers, we would no longer be a business,” he added.

Councillor Andrew Gant, who is in charge of highways at Oxfordshire County Council, said he was “utterly gobsmacked” by the latest delay.

“This is not the first, not even the second, but the third time that Network Rail have given us a commitment to a time scale and allowed us to go out, make the necessary arrangements, tell people what to expect to deal with the consequences of this massive disruption, and then not stuck to it,” he said.

Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, echoed similar views, calling the delay “unacceptable”.

“Network Rail have demonstrated utterly shambolic project management from start to finish and I am furious at this latest development,” she said.

Oxfordshire County Council added in a statement that it was “extremely frustrated” by the delays.

“Residents and businesses have shown incredible patience with more than a year of disruption to their lives because of this project, which has already had its timetable altered twice before and seen its closure dates extended.”

Earlier this year, the local authority announced that six new traffic filters would be installed across Oxford as soon as the Botley Road works were completed.

“The launch of the council’s traffic filters trial planned to start in November is now in question, with various options being considered as a result.

“We are calling on and working with Network Rail to find an acceptable solution to this situation quickly.”

Of the latest delay, Anna Holbrook, an industry programme director from Network Rail, said: “I’d just like to apologise to everybody. I know this is going to be quite upsetting news that this, the road closure, is going to go on longer than expected, but it has been a very challenging construction.”

She added that the site was “very constrained”, with work complicated by a “very complex network of utilities, which service about 60,000 homes in the area”.

When asked when the works may be completed, Ms Holbrook said: “I don’t know in terms of how much longer this is going to take, but I do know how complex it is.”

The designs for a new western entrance to the city station for passengers and the replacement of the existing rail bridge were agreed in April.

“I hear the frustrations but we need to get this project delivered for the local residents. The changes that we’re making will be transformational,” she told BBC Radio Oxford.

“We deal with the councils daily almost at the minute to try and look at how we can mitigate this for local businesses, for residents, for commuters, and we will continue to work with them.”

“But, we do want them to bear in mind what this project’s going to deliver – this is a generational change,” Ms Holbrook added.