Lights trial at Bicester Village (From The Oxford Times)

Lights trial at Bicester Village

9:23am Thursday 18th March 2010 in

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Traffic lights will be trialled this weekend in a bid to ease traffic congestion caused by the Bicester Village retail outlet.

A temporary traffic light will be set up on the section of road between the A41 and the Pingle Drive roundabout for the next two Saturdays between 9am and 3pm.

If successful, lights will be used at the junction over Easter break in a bid to prevent a repeat of the long tailbacks seen in the area during the new year sales.

Road markings will also be changed in the area.

The measures are being tested by Oxfordshire County Council following a massive campaign on social networking site Facebook.

More than 4,000 people joined the online I Hate Bicester Village Traffic group. The issue came to a head over the Christmas period when the A41 between the M40 and the town came to a standstill.

County councill cabinet member Rodney Rose said: “It makes sense to try out a scheme on the two Saturdays leading up to the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, which is expected to be another time when significant numbers of people will want to go to Bicester Village, to see if similar levels of traffic congestion can be avoided in the future.

“There are schemes in the pipeline to deal with traffic congestion in this part of Oxfordshire, but it is important that we act now to see what might be able to be done in the short and medium term.”

Town councillor Les Sibley raised concerns the lights could exacerbate the problem, but said: “Let’s put the lights to the test.”

Bicester Village spokes-man Miranda Markham welcomed the move and said it was continuing to work with local councils to minimize disruption.