A COUNCILLOR is set to use community cash to restore yellow hatchings at a junction in Headington because she says their removal has made congestion worse.

Three years ago Oxfordshire County Council removed the yellow box from the stretch of London Road after it led to tailbacks – because drivers could not easily turn across traffic into Wharton Road.

But Roz Smith, Liberal Democrat county councillor, who represents Headington and Quarry, has decided to use about £1,200 of her Area Stewards’ Fund, a pot of money given to councillors to spend on maintenance projects, to repaint the hatchings.

Drivers are not allowed to enter yellow boxes painted on the road at junctions if their exit is not clear.

The aim of reintroducing the markings is to stop motorists from blocking the junction.

Ms Smith said: “If you are turning right into Wharton Road you have to wait until there is a gap in the queue of traffic trying to get into Oxford.

“What happens if you are waiting to go right across traffic is that it backs up behind you and completely brings London Road to a standstill.

“It also means people coming out from Wharton Road cannot always get out because the line of traffic waiting to get into Headington.

“Some people say they have been sitting there for 10 minutes trying to get out, waiting for a gap in the traffic.”

She added: “London Road has been shown to be in the top 10 most congested roads in the country. This has not helped that situation.

“Reinstating the yellow hatchings is something that local residents have said to me would be a really good idea.”

She said county council officers had told her the work would be carried out as soon as the weather allows.

Ms Smith said the council had decided not to redraw the hatching after the resurfacing of London Road three years ago to ‘declutter’ it.

She said: “They believed, with all the new bus lanes on London Road, the flow of traffic would be better.

“We said at the time, hang on a minute, if you do not have the hatching it will cause traffic to back up, which is exactly what has happened.”

County council spokesman Owen Morton said: “The markings were originally removed to simplify the road design at this location.

“However, we understand there have been calls for their reinstatement and are happy to do this following the local member’s decision to take this forward as part of the Area Stewardship scheme.”