The New Stadium

Joe_Citrone

It looks absolutely amazing.

JonnyBiscuits

I see they've taken it down and replaced it with the countdown clock again. So they either went too early by accident or they deliberately teased it to raise the hype. Probably the first one though.

JonnyBiscuits

Still, it looks fantastic and I got a teeny bit emotional when they moved inside and the crowd were going and I saw the big Oxford United sign.

Bspittles

I thought plans for a hotel had been scrapped? And I'm sure that's safe standing on the far side.

JonnyBiscuits

Bspittles I don't remember hearing that about the hotel. I think the footprint of the stadium looks smaller than they'd previously indicated, so maybe they've scaled the hotel bit back a bit. I think the county council's decision suggested that there could only be minimal additional activities on site, so that might be why.

brinyhoof

Looks bloody great to me!

Presumably the stand where the sign and the dugouts are is for corporate hospitality, given how few seats seem to along that side?

TrevorAylottsHeadband

A willow tunnel was all I wanted too!

JonnyBiscuits

THE TIMER HAS EXPIRED NOTHING HAS HAPPENED I'M STOOD HERE REFRESHING EVEN THOUGH I'VE SEEN THE VIDEO

JonnyBiscuits

Love this shot, presumably taken from the station direction. Really really like the idea of club branding all the way up the roadside - would be an incredible bit of marketing.

Difficult to see that getting past the county council traffic folk at the planning application stage though - feel like it would need some kind of traffic light control like in the second one below, which I think is suppoed to be from Stratfield Brake direction.

I think ditching the footbridge is the right way to go, as it would be a dangerous crowd control pinch point, but getting crowds across the road to the ground after the game in particular would be pretty difficult without active traffic management/road closures.

LeftSider

They are proposing a closure of Oxford Road for an hour before the match and for up to 2 hours after, though it seems it would be totally closed for only 20 mins afterwards to allow buses/coaches to travel. The A4260 will remain open at all times.

I think that’ll go down like a cup of sick with the locals, but in reality as long as the dual carriage way is open, it’ll be easy to live with.

JonnyBiscuits

LeftSider

Ah cool, ok. Yeah, would have been mad mixing traffic with match day crowds. It's probably the only option really, and the locals would get used to it. In Grove back in the day, one of the main roads would randomly be shut for ages now and then to allow the farmer to bring the cows down from the field for milking. We survived.

TrevorAylottsHeadband

JonnyBiscuits Ah, I remember those days well! Also, unlike the cow marches, OUFC games happen at pre-determined times and dates allowing people to make alternative arrangements for the brief periods the road closures will be in operation. That won't stop some of the locals complaining that they're going to be made prisoners in their own homes though…

JonnyBiscuits

Now, do I read the detailed document thingy, or wait to see it all at the exhibition thingy and read it there instead?

brinyhoof

I can’t stop thinking about the document saying we rejoined the football league in 2011.

JonnyBiscuits

And returned to League One in 2015.

TrevorAylottsHeadband

The county council have published their letter and annexes to the club outlining what they will need to comply with before the council will grant a lease on the Triangle. Considering that the club put out last week, particularly the part about closing the Oxford Road on matchdays, I can see them butting heads early on as one of the requirements is:

"Develop new pedestrian and cycle entrances and routes to improve accessibility, including a new pedestrian route across the Oxford Road, such as a footbridge, that improves pedestrian and cyclist access to the site from Oxford Parkway railway station and the Park & Ride without disrupting vehicle movements on the Oxford Road. "

LeftSider

TrevorAylottsHeadband I share this concern, too.

JonnyBiscuits

That seems pretty insurmountable. I just can't see how anything other than an extremely wide flyover footbridge would be acceptable to safely move several thousand people from one side to the other. And that would have a massive impact on space available on both sides.

TrevorAylottsHeadband

Yep, the more I read this, the more concerned I am. It's highly likely that it will be the council's own highways department that will make the recommendation that a road closure is the safest, most appropriate way to deal with the situation. The pragmatic thing for the council to do would then be to accept those recommendations. The problem is that they have issued this document with a fairly unequivocal statement that vehicle movements must not be disrupted. If they then grant the lease, I imagine that FOSB would take that decision to judicial review on the basis that the terms have not been complied with. Even if the club/council win this battle, it will delay the process.

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