Last night the county council announced it had reopened Abingdon Road but the route is still not easy to access as it remains closed between the Weirs Lane/Donnington Bridge Road junction and Old Abingdon Road.
Oxford Bus Company has reported delays for its drivers of about 45 minutes as they continue to have to use diversion routes.
READ MORE: Abingdon Road reopens
The company posted this morning on X, formerly Twitter: “We are experiencing severe delays of up to 45 minutes across our network. Although the main section of Abingdon Road has re-opened, the road remains closed between Weirs Lane and Old Abingdon Road so a long diversion is still required for our cityX1/X3/35/43/300 services.”
Some people are now questioning why the whole of the Abingdon Road route has not yet been fully reopened.
The county council has not yet said when the section of road between Weirs Lane and Old Abingdon Road is likely to reopen.
Oxford City Council posted that fire crews were continuing to pump away water.
Dotty Clay, a bus passenger from Abingdon, said: “My bus driver said he’s personally checked the road and it was as ‘dry as a bone ‘, he also said it’s going to add an hour to routes via Abingdon and even to people who are trying to use park and ride.
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“Considering that this is the council behind LTNs they don’t seem to be doing anything towards reducing petrol use – in fact every measure they’ve introduced seems to have increased the amount of time people are in their cars either driving or worse idling their engines.”
Culham Bridge near Abingdon also remains closed following the flooding in the aftermath of Storm Henk.
Fire crews from Banbury and Oxford joined forces and have worked to pump out water out from Abingdon Road since it closed on Friday following heavy rainfall.
The county council opened the High Street bus gate to all traffic 24 hours a day to offset the effects of the closure combined with the continued closure of Botley Road.
But the bus lane restrictions are once again being enforced by ANPR cameras.
Despite the possible impact on traders, the county council took the decision to close Abingdon Road but said it was not “done lightly and always with safety in mind”.
City councillor Anna Railton, who represents the Hinksey Park ward, said earlier “the situation has, on the whole, been pretty well managed”.
The Environment Agency said: “River levels in Oxford remain high but are slowly reducing. River levels should continue to fall over the next few days as a period of dry weather is forecast.
“Environment Agency teams remain out on the ground, working 24/7 to minimise the impacts of flooding where possible by operating flood defences, flood relief channels, deploying pumps and clearing watercourses.
“So far, nearly 80,000 properties in England have been protected in the last few days. We urge people not to drive though floodwater and to follow the advice of local emergency services on the roads – floodwater is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm is enough to float your car.”
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About the author
Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here.
He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.
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