A NEW scheme to completely change Oxford’s Frideswide Square could see work on the notorious city centre bottleneck starting by 2013.

The redesign of the congested square looked to have stalled in August when the Government rejected a bid for funding towards a £5m plan.

But it has emerged that a cheaper scheme is being drawn up by Oxfordshire County Council as part of a major redevelopment of the railway station area.

The use of cheaper materials would allow the cost of the scheme to be slashed to £3.7m.

And County Hall is proposing to put in £1.5m of its own money to create “a welcoming gateway for Oxford”.

Despite having to opt for a cut- price alternative, County Hall says it can still deliver a high quality scheme that would sweep away the clogged-up network of traffic lights and bus lanes, replacing them with roundabouts.

David Robertson, deputy leader of the county council, said: “We were disappointed not to receive money from central government but we weren’t prepared to simply give up.

“We plan to come up with an alternative scheme that uses less expensive materials but delivers exactly the same layout and traffic benefits. We are having to make the best of what finance we have available locally to tackle a job that’s needed doing for some considerable time.

“But we’re determined to make Frideswide Square a smart and efficient area that welcomes people to Oxford, keeps traffic flowing and is safe for all road users.”

The scheme relies on receiving £1.5m in developer funding along with £750,000 from the West End Partnership, the body created to oversee the regeneration of the run-down city centre quarter.

The council unsuccessfully bid for £1.35m of government funding.

After two major consultations, County Hall is settled on a design that would see traffic lights replaced with a layout based on a “shared space” principle. That removes the traditional separation of vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. Two options are being looked at, which both include compact roundabouts, significantly reduced traffic space, and crossing points.

County Hall says the priority is to produce an area to better handle the tens of thousands of vehicles and bicycles that use the square every day, “with traffic flowing slowly but steadily”.

The council now hopes features such as fountains, lighting, street furniture and public art will have greater impact than expensive paving. The transformation, however, depends on the scheme being included in county council budgets.

Colin Cook, city council board member for city development, said: “My concern is that a cheap and cheerful deal might not address some of the subtle changes needed to slow traffic down and make it more pedestrian friendly. We would certainly not want the queues moving from Frideswide Square back down the Botley Road, potentially right back to the A34.”