Witney High Street closed to traffic 24/7 until 9 October. The S1, S2 and X9 now leave from Meadow Court; the 233 and X15 from Langdale Gate.
Witney High Street is closed to all general motor traffic, 24 hours a day, until the end of Friday 9 October. The closure began at 7.30am on Monday 28 September. It runs from the top of Market Square down to and including the Welch Way junction.
It stays in place over the weekend of 3 and 4 October. Oxfordshire County Council set out the arrangements on its scheme page for the High Street works.
Every shop and business stays open. The change most people will notice is where the buses go.
Where to catch your bus
The temporary bus stops on the High Street between Welch Way and Market Square are suspended. So is the stop on Welch Way near the High Street junction. The county’s notice moves services to two stops.
| Heading for | Services | Catch it at |
|---|---|---|
| Oxford, Chipping Norton, Woodstock and London | S1, S1A, S2, H2, X9, S7, X52 and the Oxford Tube | The stop near Meadow Court on the High Street |
| Burford, Abingdon, Wychwood, Bampton and the villages | 210, 233/234, 215/216, X15 and 19 | The stop opposite Robert Dyas on Langdale Gate |
| The other direction on Langdale Gate | 213 and 214 | The stop on the opposite side of Langdale Gate |
The county adds a warning. Operators may make short notice changes, and its guidance will not always reflect them. The taxi rank has moved to opposite The Angel on Market Square, or another nearby spot shown by signs on the street.
Several of those routes are new or renumbered since the network changed on 20 September. We set out what changed, route by route, in Witney’s buses changed on 20 September.
What the closure is for
The county says the work is civil engineering in the centre of the road and the wider area. It includes:
- drainage works and surface planing
- preparing the footway areas for the buff-coloured surfacing
- new signage
- a permanent bus shelter at the top of Market Square
The county also scheduled overnight planing from 7pm on 28 September, to finish by midnight. Doing it at night was meant to keep daytime access as open as possible for High Street businesses.
Getting in if you drive, cycle or have a blue badge
- Drivers: park in the Woolgate car park, reached from Witan Way, and walk through the Woolgate Centre to Market Square. Marriotts Walk is the other option, a short walk from Welch Way to the lower end of the High Street. Parking in the district council’s car parks is free.
- Blue badge holders: some disabled parking places on the High Street are out of use. The county recommends Woolgate, via Witan Way.
- Cyclists: you can still ride through, but the county recommends going round via Witan Way.
- Walking and wheelchair users: a safe route is kept through the works at all times.
The scheme now costs £4.4 million
The High Street works began with a £1.98 million grant from the government’s Active Travel Fund. That has more than doubled.
According to the county, materials and labour costs rose significantly. It secured an extra £1,875,937 of active travel funding, and the revised budget is £4.4 million.
The breakdown on the county’s page is:
- £2.869 million from Active Travel England
- £1.495 million from the county council’s capital programme
- £0.040 million from developer contributions
When the scheme is finished, the county says Witney gets around 2,000 square metres of resurfaced footway, over 1,000 square metres of new footway, 10 marked disabled parking places, new seating and trees, and a taxi bay. Completion is still scheduled for November, subject to weather. The last step is automatic number plate recognition cameras, to enforce the traffic restriction that has been in place on the High Street since 2020.
What it means for you
- Until the end of 9 October, no general traffic on the High Street or Market Square, day or night, weekends included.
- Catching a bus to Oxford? Go to the stop near Meadow Court.
- Heading west or to the villages? Go to Langdale Gate, opposite Robert Dyas.
- Shops are open. Woolgate and Marriotts Walk are the car parks to use.
Questions go to the contractor, Galliford Try, at witneyhighstreet@gallifordtry.co.uk. Its out of hours emergency number is 07483 326963.
The A40 also has a closure coming. From 5 October an emergency notice covers the eastbound carriageway between the Downs Road bridge and the B4022 slip road. Every live closure is on our Witney roadworks and travel page.
Sources
- Witney High Street and Market Square delivery, Oxfordshire County Council, for the closure dates and hours, the bus stop and taxi arrangements, access advice, the contractor contacts and the revised budget.
- Witney High Street and Market Square enhancements scheme, Oxfordshire County Council, for the closure extent and scheme contents.
- Temporary emergency restriction, A40 eastbound, Witney Town Council, 29 September 2026.
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