I met yesterday with Councillor Andrew Gant, Cabinet Member for Transport Management at Oxfordshire County Council and as we walked around Rodney House roundabout showed him the various issues from different angles. To accompany the discussion, a report on the safety concerns the community have was also passed on which he had read in advance of the meeting (https://gravenhillra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/rodney-house-roundabout.docx.pdf). No potential solutions are offered up in the document, although a possible reduction in speed limit on the roundabout did come up in discussion. This is to keep the focus on the undeniable problems with the roundabout and not any debate around what might work or what might not. The desired outcome is either to have a further safety review undertaken (with, hopefully, some form of improvements made) or at least establish what we can do to get to that point.
There is an old ITN clip ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qir4EEpawE ) where a councillor is saying a section of the A19 is perfectly safe, only for there to be a pile-up on camera in the background. Fortunately(?), this didn’t happen on our walkaround, but there were two separate long honks and assorted vehicles visibly cutting lanes up. Helpfully, there was plenty of traffic, as well as cyclists and pedestrians, to illustrate the issues. There was even someone who unwisely took a shortcut away from the A41 crossing to one of the central islands. This is something now possible because parts of the pedestrian guardrailing have recently been removed.
Councillor Gant could clearly see the different issues and as someone who uses a cycle to get around agreed that in addition to the problems it causes motorists, the roundabout was not at all friendly to either pedestrians or cyclists. He said he would contact traffic engineers and ask them to follow up on the report and his own observations. Whilst I wouldn’t like to say what the chances are of effecting the necessary changes any time soon, it is good for there to be a dialogue underway and I thank Councillor Gant for taking the time to travel over to Bicester to see the problem for himself. Thanks also to Councillor Nick Cotter for helping to set up the meeting.
In the meantime, please continue to get in touch with your own experiences and consider subscribing to the website to receive email updates on all things relating to our community.
Paul Davis, Chair, Graven Hill Residents’ Association
Graven Hill Residents' Association 