The roads are completely inadequate.  At best they have very basic road base material supporting the wearing course and many simply consist of tarmacadam placed on top of compressed earth.  They would be unable to stand the heavy wear of continual HGVs.  Tight S bends, slow T junctions and poor sight lines abound.  The roads are narrow and scarcely able to handle the present expanding traffic (for example Clanfield is showing an increase of 57% in the last 5 years).

There are no appropriate ‘A’ roads able to safely carry a high number of Heavy Goods Vehicles, most roads are ‘B’ or unclassified.  Some have weight restrictions.

An amusing indication of the inadequacy of the roads to support gravel extraction is that in September 2010 OCC decided to take interested County Councillors on a trip around the areas being considered for gravel extraction.  AGGROW prepared a route map through their area, with  speaker’s notes, but they were not used as the coach driver declared the roads were too narrow for his coach!  What chance then for a 44-tonne lorry!

The AGGROW traffic consultant’s report (John Tough, PhD, MSc, BSc (Eng), MIHT, MILT, ACGI) to OCC says “Many roads are single track, some of which have formal passing places and others not.  Whereas the occasional HGV on these roads does not present a great problem, the repeated use of single track roads many times a day by HGVs would cause increased traffic congestion, the vehicles themselves would incur increased transport and environmental costs, and would also cause considerable damage to the typical rural roads – particularly to the edges and verges.  It would put vulnerable users – cyclists, horse-riders and pedestrians – in more danger.”

There are 6 schools located on the roadside, most on suggested routes. Children and their parents would certainly be put in danger by a continual flow of HGVs.

The local and historical bridges in the area were never designed or built to take HGVs.  They are typically narrow, weak, hump-backed.  A number have weight restrictions.  Avoiding these bridges would lead to a considerable increase in ‘mineral miles’ to reach the identified main expansion areas of Didcot, Wantage, Grove and Bicester.   The A361 in the west is already recognised as a dangerous road and the A40 to the north is a congestion nightmare for many hours a day, especially as it approaches Oxford.