Oxford Roadworks This Week: Half Marathon and Queen Street

The Oxford Half Marathon closes roads across central and north Oxford on Sunday 11 October. The first closures, on Mansfield Road and the streets around the start, go in at 9am on Saturday 10 October. Bike racks on Jowett Walk, Mansfield Road and Broad Street are suspended from 6am that Saturday.

Queen Street stays closed until 5.30pm on Monday 26 October. Ten bus routes are diverted, and the X2, X15 and X40 cannot serve the St Aldates stops.

The A34 closes overnight south of Abingdon all this week. National Highways lists the southbound carriageway between Milton and Chilton shut every night, 9pm to 6am, as well as the northbound side between Marcham and Abingdon.

The traffic filters went live on Monday 28 September, replacing the congestion charge. Paying £5 to drive through is no longer an option.

This page tracks Oxford roadworks: what is closed today, what is coming this autumn, and the parking and park and ride prices that do not move week to week. The live sections below were checked against the responsible authority’s or operator’s own notice or page on 5 October 2026.

Queen Street: closed until 26 October

Oxford Bus Company says it has been told Queen Street will be closed from 07:30 on 28 September to 17:30 on 26 October. Neither council has published a notice for it that we could find, so the operator’s page is the only record. The diversions:

• 3, 3A and 6: via Castle Street, Norfolk Street, Speedwell Street and St Aldates, then back on the usual route at the High Street and the Police Station.
• 8: now terminates at Speedwell Street, turns round via Thames Street and starts back from the Police Station stop P2.
• 46 and 500: from Westgate via New Road, Oxpens Road, Speedwell Street and St Aldates, then the High Street as usual.
• X2, X15 and X40: from Westgate via New Road, Oxpens Road and Speedwell Street, rejoining at the Police Station. They cannot serve the St Aldates stops while the closure lasts.

The operator lists the River Rapids service as affected too.

Closed right now in Oxford

These are the live temporary orders made under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as published in the county council’s statutory notices, plus the county’s own pages for its major schemes. The dates are the authority’s own anticipated completion dates, so they can slip.

Wytham is a village about three miles north-west of the city centre; the closure matters mostly if you use it as a back way to the A34.

The A34 southbound night closures between Hinksey Hill and Marcham have finished for now: the county gave Friday 2 October as the last night. National Highways lists one more southbound closure on that stretch, on the night of Wednesday 7 October, for developer works. Neither council publishes a list of what has reopened, so for everything else we can only tell you when an order expires.

The A4183 at Lodge Hill still has two-way temporary lights between the garage entrance and the new south roundabout, running 24 hours a day and manually controlled from 7am to 7pm. The county said on its scheme page that they would stay about four weeks, alongside David Wilson’s work at the Peachcroft roundabout.

Bus stops suspended

All from Oxford Bus Company:

• Nightingale Avenue, Greater Leys, towards Oxford, to 12 October. The 600’s stop is suspended because of roadworks; use Tarragon Drive. The other Grenoble Road and Littlemore stops that were suspended last week are no longer listed.
• Lidl, Watlington Road, Cowley, to today, 5 October. Both directions, on the 11 and 600. Use the Car Factory Gate stops.

Starting in the next fortnight

• Horspath Driftway, 8 to 17 October, 8pm to 6am, for resurfacing along its whole length between the Eastern Bypass and The Slade. The junction with the bypass closes too. Signed via the B4495, B480 and A4142. Order made 28 September (notice).
• Wednesday 7 October, overnight: the A34 southbound between Hinksey Hill and Marcham closes again for one night, 9pm to 6am, for developer works, per National Highways.
• Thursday 8 October, overnight: the A34 southbound exit slip at Weston on the Green, about seven miles north of the city centre, closes 9pm to 6am for maintenance.
• Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October, the Oxford Half Marathon. The biggest closure of the autumn inside the city; see the section below.
• Jack Straw’s Lane, 12 to 14 October, Thames Water lining and patch repairs, via Headley Way and Marston Road.
• Margaret Road, Headington, 12 to 16 October, power link box replacement, via St Anne’s Road, Gathorne Road and Windmill Road.
• King Street, Jericho, from 12 October, for Scottish and Southern’s low-voltage overlay. One notice gives 12 October to 13 November for the stretch behind Guy Court, signed via Jericho Street, Hart Street, Great Clarendon Street, Walton Street and Cardigan Street. A second, for King Street between Cardigan Street and Jericho Street, runs 24 October to 1 November. Both are worded as intended orders.

Two Oxford Post stories cover closures that are not on the roads. The Swan Street footbridge on Osney Island has been shut since 24 September after inspectors found safety problems; our full story has the diversion. The Islip bridge closure is in its own section below.

Botley Road is open again

Botley Road reopened on the morning of Sunday 20 September, three and a half years after Network Rail closed it at the railway bridge in April 2023. Network Rail confirmed it in a statement that morning.

The things most likely to catch you out:

• The new bridge has a 4.4 metre height clearance, signed on the ring road. Double deckers fit.
• The two new walkways under the bridge are four metres wide, and the cycleways on them are one-way. Ride into the city on the northern side, out of it on the southern side.
• A new footbridge links Becket Street car park to the front of the station, and the Becket Street spaces used by the works are back.
• The Botley Flyer minibus ran for the last time on Saturday 19 September, and the temporary station gate at Roger Dudman Way has closed.

Our full account of what reopened and what has not is in Botley Road reopens after three and a half years.

One caution if you are checking elsewhere. Network Rail’s own Botley Road bridge page still carries a timeline ending “August 2026: Botley Road reopens”, still tells you buses terminate either side of the bridge, and still lists Botley Flyer pick-up times. It has not been updated. The county council’s reopening page is the one being maintained.

Traffic filters: live since Monday 28 September

The traffic filter trial replaced the congestion charge on Monday 28 September. The county council made the experimental order on 24 August, with a start date that depended on Botley Road reopening first.

The council’s feedback survey on the trial opened the same day and stays open until 28 March 2027. It is on the council’s Let’s Talk site, and paper copies are at County Hall and Oxfordshire libraries.

The six locations, as written into the order:

• 7am to 7pm, every day: Hythe Bridge Street west of Rewley Road, St Clements east of Boulter Street and Jeune Street, St Cross Road south of Manor Road, and Thames Street east of Blackfriars Road.
• 7am to 9am and 3pm to 6pm, Monday to Saturday: Hollow Way between James Wolfe Road and Dene Road, and Marston Ferry Road west of the access to The Swan School.

The single most important change: you can no longer pay £5 to drive through. Under the congestion charge that option existed. Under the filters it does not.

What stays the same:

• Only cars are affected. Vans, lorries, minibuses, coaches and motorcycles can use any route at any time without a permit. The catch is that the DVLA usually classes a motorhome as M1, a passenger car, so motorhomes are caught.
• Enforcement is by ANPR camera. There are no barriers and no gates.
• Permits carry over. If you hold a congestion charge permit it transfers automatically and you do not reapply.

One group does have to act. The central permit area is being abolished, because with Botley Road open every part of Oxford can be reached without passing a filter. Central area resident permits transfer to the Oxford permit area with 100 day passes. Central area visitor permits, workplace parking permits and sports club, nursery or military training permits all expire when the congestion charge ends, and unused visitor day passes will not be valid.

If you get it wrong, the penalty charge is £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days. For the first six months of the trial, the first time a car goes through without a permit the council sends a warning notice rather than a fine.

Because it is an experimental order it can run for a maximum of 18 months, and anyone may object to it being made permanent within six months of 28 September. Objections go to the traffic filters team at County Hall or to trafficfilters@oxfordshire.gov.uk, and the detailed particulars are on the council’s Let’s Talk site. Separately, anyone arguing the order is outside the council’s powers has six weeks from 24 August to apply to the High Court, which runs out on 5 October.

Coming up: what is already ordered

Sunday 11 October, the Oxford Half Marathon. This is the biggest planned closure of the autumn inside the city. The county council’s special event order, dated 5 October, for the race, organised by Motiv Sports (UK) Limited. The headline windows:

• 09:00 Saturday 10 October to 21:00 Sunday 11 October: Mansfield Road, Savile Road, Holywell Street and Jowett Walk, for the start and finish.
• 06:00 to 16:00 on the Sunday: South Parks Road, St Cross Road, Longwall Street, Radcliffe Square, Catte Street, Broad Street, Parks Road, Museum Road, Blackhall Road, Keble Road, Magdalen Bridge and Turl Street between Broad Street and Ship Street.
• 08:00 to 11:30: the High Street between Magdalen Bridge and King Edward Street.
• 07:30 to 11:30: Magdalen Street East and the southbound side of St Giles.
• 07:30 to 14:00: Banbury Road from St Giles to Beech Croft Road, and the North Oxford streets off it.
• 07:30 to 12:15: Banbury Road from Beech Croft Road to the A40, plus Water Eaton Road and Victoria Road.
• 07:30 to 13:30: Marston Ferry Road, Cherwell Drive, Elsfield Road, Marsh Lane and both A40 slip roads at the Marston junction.

The order is dated today, 5 October, and comes into force on 10 October. When we checked this morning its schedules had not changed since they were first published, although the notice wording still says the council “proposes” to make it. Oxford City Council has also suspended every bike rack on Jowett Walk, Mansfield Road and Broad Street from 6am on Saturday 10 October. Bikes left there will be removed and stored for 35 days, and the racks return by 7am on Monday 12 October. Our full road-by-road list and timings are in Oxford Half 2026: roads shut from 9am on Saturday.

October, a fortnight of resurfacing in Barton, Northway and Cowley. ODS Group is running micro asphalt across a run of streets, each closed for the week of 19 to 23 October unless stated: Bernwood Road, Atkinson Close, Malford Road, Claymond Road, Humfrey Road, Routh Road, Henry Taunt Close, Brome Place and Cranley Road, which is ordered through to 31 October. Waynflete Road is the signed alternative for several of them. An order in the same batch closes Iffley Road for the same week, and the notice does not say which section.

Other autumn orders already made or notified:

• Fletcher Road, 22 October to 11 December, cable work by Scottish and Southern.
• St Bernard’s Road, 26 October to 1 November, a foul and surface water connection, via Leckford Road, Woodstock Road and Kingston Road.
• St Michael’s Street, 11 November, 9.30am to 3.30pm, Openreach cabling.
• Binsey Lane, 11 to 13 November, to recover a buried water valve 120 metres south of the Medley Manor Farm entrance.
• Dene Road, Headington, for the whole of 11 November, Openreach overhead cabling, via Coverley Road, Bulan Road and the B4495.
• Shoe Lane and New Inn Hall Street, 9 November, 9.30am to 6pm, sewer lining.
• Yeats Close, 16 November to 11 December, cable work.
• New High Street, Headington, at All Saints Road, 16 to 27 November, SGN gas main replacement, access only.
• Sandfield Road, Headington, at Woodlands Road, 23 November to 18 December, SGN gas mains, via Woodlands Road and Staunton Road.
• King Edward Street, from the High Street to about number 9, 4 to 10 December, to replace a transformer under the footway.

The longest one on the books is in the new year. Cornmarket Street, from the High Street to Golden Cross, is due to close from 11 January to 5 March 2027 to repair a collapsed lateral sewer, by excavation and lining. That and the gas work on Pitts Road (4 to 15 January) and Ridgeway Road (25 January to 5 February) in Headington come from a county notice of 24 September, all worded as intended orders.

Islip Bridge: closed to vehicles until 20 November

Islip is about six miles north of Oxford, and its bridge closure matters in the city mainly because of the bus. The county council republished the order on 3 September. The work was originally planned for July and August and is now set for 28 September to 20 November, a date the county repeated in a notice on 24 September.

The closure covers King’s Head Lane between Mill Street and Middle Street, Lower Street from Wheatley Road, Mill Street between The Walk and Wheatley Road, The Walk, and the B4027 Wheatley Road from Mill Street. Islip’s one-way order is suspended for the duration. Pedestrians and cyclists keep access throughout.

The diversion in the order was written for the H5 between Bicester and the John Radcliffe, which went via Kidlington Road, Bicester Road, the A40 and Barton, with a shuttle between Barton and the stop on the south side of the bridge. The H5 itself no longer exists: Oxford Bus Company’s new service 25 took on the Bicester to JR link via Islip on 20 September. Check with the operator before you rely on the shuttle.

The Zero Emission Zone, which is a separate thing

People conflate the two. The Zero Emission Zone is a small pilot covering a handful of city centre streets, it applies to all vehicles rather than just cars, and it charges by emissions rather than by permit.

Charges apply 7am to 7pm, seven days a week, all year, and cover the whole day however many times you enter:

A vehicle parked inside the zone that does not move is not charged.

Park and ride, and the £3 Park + Bus ticket

Oxford has five park and ride sites on the ring road: Pear Tree and Oxford Parkway to the north, Thornhill to the east, Redbridge to the south and Seacourt to the west on Botley Road.

Seacourt is the one that changed on 20 September. With Botley Road open, its buses run straight into the city centre instead of stopping at Osney Island, and the 400 is back at up to every 10 minutes.

Parking charges are the same at all of them:

• Up to 1 hour: free, though you must still register the session.
• 1 to 16 hours: £2.50.
• 16 to 24 hours: £4.50.
• 2 days: £8.50. 3 days: £12.50, which is also the maximum stay.
• 28 days: £45, RingGo only.
• Blue Badge holders park free in any bay.

The bus offer changed in August. Free day return bus travel from the park and ride sites ended on 16 August 2026. Since 17 August the discounted Park + Bus ticket costs £3, and it covers parking for one car for up to 16 hours plus return bus travel for up to five people of any age.

Two practical points the council makes about it:

• Buy it at the park and ride site or on the RingGo app, not on the bus.
• It is valid on any Stagecoach, Oxford Bus Company or Thames Travel bus that stops within a park and ride site, not only the named park and ride services. Show the driver your parking ticket or an active RingGo session on the way in and on the way back.

For a family that is still the cheapest way into the centre by a distance.

Pear Tree, the largest, has 1,035 spaces at OX2 8JZ, 18 disabled bays and a 2.3 metre height limit.

A40 Eynsham park and ride: nothing opens before 2028

Vegetation clearance, ecological work and utility diversions have started on the £126m A40 Eynsham park and ride to Wolvercote scheme, which will add bus lanes along the A40 corridor and finally bring the built park and ride into use.

The timetable is long. Planning permission was granted on 30 June 2026, and the council and Balfour Beatty then reviewed the programme. Oxfordshire County Council now expects enabling works in autumn 2026, main construction from spring 2027, the park and ride open in early summer 2028 and the whole scheme finished by summer 2029. Connecting the park and ride to the A40 is being done first.

School Streets: Sandhills

One Oxford school joined the county’s School Streets scheme this term. Delbush Avenue is closed to motor vehicles at both ends, at its junctions with Merewood Avenue and Hill View, for Sandhills Community Primary School.

The closures run 8am to 9am and 2.30pm to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday in term time only. Residents, visitors, blue badge holders, deliveries, school transport and emergency vehicles are exempt. The order was made on 17 August 2026 as an experimental order, so it can run for a maximum of 18 months, and anyone can object within six months of it coming into force.

The routes that carry Oxford between roadworks

These do not change, and they are what most journeys actually depend on:

• North to south the city has essentially two through routes, the Banbury Road and Woodstock Road corridor into St Giles, and the A4144 Abingdon Road over Folly Bridge. When one is blocked the other absorbs it, badly.
• East to west you have Botley Road, the High Street and the Headington radial. The A40 and A34 ring road is almost always faster than crossing the middle, even when it looks longer.
• The Headington roads carry the John Radcliffe, the Churchill and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, so hospital traffic peaks earlier than commuter traffic and holds up longer.
• Oxford station is reached from Botley Road again, and from Frideswide Square as it has been throughout.

Also on The Oxford Post

• Oxford trains to London: times, fares and what the station works are for.
• Oxford planning news: the Local Plan 2045 and the sites allocated for homes.
• Things to do in Oxford: where to go once you have parked.