The New Stadium

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.

brinyhoof

The Amex copes with a footbridge so I’m not sure why we couldn’t install something similar? Takes some policing of course but works really well in my experience in what is obviously a much larger stadium.

Falmer Train Station - Southern Railway

https://maps.app.goo.gl/iKQwXxCN4TJUGiL38?g_st=ic

TrevorAylottsHeadband

brinyhoof I imagine space is going to be an issue. The bridge at Falmer is something like 8 metres wide at ground level. To stick something of that size across the Oxford Road will encroach into the hedgerow on the far side, which raises questions about the ownership of that land and if they would be happy with it. The other difference is that the bridge at Falmer is from the stadium site directly over the railway line and into the station forecourt. At the Triangle, pedestrians would still have to travel some distance alongside the road, over the A34 bridge, before they get to the station. The footpath as it stands simply isn't big enough to cope with a few thousand people all heading in the same direction at once.

Bspittles

Stoke City also have a footbridge with no hassles, although that crossed a canal and a railway line.

brinyhoof

TrevorAylottsHeadband I’ve always wondered who owns that field to the south of the triangle and why it’s never been part of the conversation.

Like @LeftSider says, we’ve just got to trust that it is getting addressed behind the scenes. I can’t imagine this is the first time such logistics have been debated given how crucial Oxford Parkway is to the overall viability.

JonnyBiscuits

Those are both reassuring precedents, though this is likely to be the method by which the vast majority of people will be getting off site post-match, so I dunno if those examples would carry the same volume of foot traffic or not?

LeftSider

I keep telling myself that the team of experts we’ve got are confident that this one specific (though important) aspect won’t derail the project. On the Stand United web meeting the other evening, they said they were in detailed discussions with OCC, CDC and TVP on this subject, which must mean that the only people that really matter are all aware and part of the decision making process.

JonnyBiscuits

Your honour, if we prevent vehicular access to Oxford Road in the first place, we will not be disrupting vehicle movements on Oxford Road. QED.

JonnyBiscuits

Selfy has created this kind of local sports... webapp thingamijig. Anyway, while he grapples with what it's for/what it looks like/how it works, I said I'd do some OUFC content for him.

It's a bit rushed, but I'm not sure very many people will see it on Selfy's webapp thing, at the moment as he's not actively promoting it, so I thought I might as well share it here. Click the link below - you'll have to scroll past the vids of Selfy's brother interview people.

My blog on what a new stadium represents for me/OUFC

LeftSider

I’d never heard of that site.

Nice piece. I wonder just how many others like your 5 mates who stopped coming (completely or only make occasional visits)? I’m sure it’s a take oft repeated around The Shire.

JonnyBiscuits

LeftSider He came up with it like two weeks ago I think. It still needs some work, clearly.

I suppose the good news is that it's probably never too late to get hooked on a football club - I guess though for some people, you'll need to hook them at a point in their lives before they end up with responsibilities. We might have missed out on a whole generation of new regular attendees for that reason.

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