Danger warnings for drivers on Brookes campus (From The Oxford Times)

Danger warnings for drivers on Brookes campus

11:00am Monday 20th December 2010 in News By Amanda Williams

Sue Parker in Holton Road

DRIVERS are being put at risk by students and university staff parking on both sides of a road with a 60mph speed limit, residents have warned.

They want double yellow lines to be marked along Holton Road, outside Oxford Brookes University’s Wheatley campus.

And they said Oxfordshire County Council’s highways department had made matters worse by removing the white line in the middle of the road, claiming this change had confused drivers.

More than 40 local residents have complained about the situation to Thames Valley Police and the county council.

The road forms the main link between Waterperry, Worminghall and the A40.

Waterperry parish councillor Sue Parker said: “It’s just very dangerous. People are worried it’s going to take a serious accident before something is done.”

Cars have to take turns to pass each other to get along the road past the parked cars, she said.

She added: “One day I was following a dustcart towards Wheatley, which had to pull on to the opposite grass verge when it met a skip lorry coming in the opposite direction.

“The road width is dangerously narrowed by the parked vehicles.”

And she said a successful battle by residents in Wheatley’s Old London Road to get yellow lines to stop university staff and students parking there had simply shifted the problem to Holton Road.

The county council said it had removed the white lines to try to slow traffic.

Waterperry resident Robin Legg said that removal of the markings “beggars belief”.

He added: “Arising from this action, how, in the event of an incident, does one go about proving who was in the right, for example, on the correct side of the road?”

He called for the university to get students with cars to pay for campus parking permits. He added: “They should not have to expect others to have to contend with their inability to make decisions.”

Tricia Hallam, of Waterperry, added: “There’s also erosion of the verges, which means that there’s a lot on mud on the road, adding to the dangers. Double yellow lines seem to be the best solution.”

A police spokesman said the force had been working with the university and council and had so far issued two tickets for dangerous parking.

Council spokesman Owen Morton said: “The county council is aware of safety concerns raised in relation to parked cars along this road.

“In consultation with the police and parish council, we have installed advisory ‘Keep Clear’ markings to discourage parking on the bends.”

Oxford Brookes spokesman Ed Reed said university was working to address the issue and had put on extra Brookes-Bus services as part of efforts to discourage students from driving to the campus.

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk