At the end of April 2024, Oxford County Council will be amending Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes to remove bollards and replace them with ANPR cameras for enforcement of these no-through roads.
Bollards will be removed on the following roads:
- Divinity Road
- James Street
- Magdalen Road
- Crescent Road
- Littlehay Road
- Littlemore Road
Exemptions will be in place for the below vehicles to make use of these time-saving shortcuts:
- Taxis
- Private hire vehicles
- Emergency service vehicles
- Local authority waste vehicles
- Royal Mail vehicles
This move brings these traffic filters in-line with many other schemes in Oxford, the UK and further afield that seek to reduce the impact of motorised vehicles in local neighbourhoods, while balancing the needs of essential services.
The main benefit of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods is to reduce through-traffic using local roads as rat runs between larger arterial roads. However, with many drivers of exempt services relying on generic GPS navigation solutions, the life saving time benefits of using these shorter routes won’t be realised.
Blue Light Maps is the only navigation solution that allows Emergency Service drivers to find shorter routes that make use of their exemptions from schemes like those in Oxford, with Blue Light Routing frequently finding routes up to 60% shorter than those available for the general public, offering clear benefits for response times and public safety.
Our routing algorithm will start offering these new shortcuts to first responders in our May update.
Individuals can download the app from the App Store or Play Store, or contact us to discuss how we can help your organisation.