WORRIED residents who live on a quiet Headington road have signed a petition to try to stop their street becoming a “rat-run” for commuters.

Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) wants to remove the grass verges in Osler Road and widen the street, building two lanes rather than one, as part of its £12.5m Access to Headington scheme.

Residents have said this will make the road incredibly dangerous for wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs.

Andrew Hicks, of Osler Road, said if the plans go ahead, they will have a “detrimental” effect on residents.

Mr Hicks said: “If they take away the grass verges what will mothers and babies do on a pavement the size of Old High Street? Many wheelchair users also use that path. What’s going to happen when buses are whizzing past?”

Osler Road is frequently used by buses and cars looking for a quicker route to the John Radcliffe Hospital, he said.

Mr Hicks added: “It’s a really stupid proposal. The council doesn’t care about the residents. The money will be better spent on building a park and ride scheme instead of trying to make a residential road into a main access.”

Last week, Mr Hicks visited every house in the street and received 71 signatures from residents against the plans to remove the verges. He claims only four people did not sign, because they were away on holiday.

He said: “We want the council to understand that every single resident is against this.”

County ward councillor for Headington and Quarry Roz Smith said she was infuriated with the council because the consultation, which was launched last month and ends on Friday, had been “so sloppily managed”.

She said: “It was not very well advertised and it was very difficult to see the proposals.

“Why we need to remove the grass verges I don’t know. Osler Road is a lovely residential road but blighted by buses.

“As it’s a route to the JR [John Radcliffe Hospital] there are a large number of pedestrians – particularly less able bodied ones – using it. We do not need any more traffic in Osler Road. We don’t want it to be a rat-run.”

Bus passenger group Bus Users Oxford has supported to the Access to Headington plans.

The report said: “We strongly welcome the widening of Osler Road as this is an important access road for buses to the JR Hospital.”

Spokesman for OCC Owen Morton said: “The consultation is running until Friday, August 7, so we would encourage people to respond if they have not already done so.

“The point of the consultation is to inform people of our plans and to get feedback to help us develop those plans further.”

Visit oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/access-headington for more.