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  "path": "/lifestyle/cars/oxfordshire-drivers-roads-quiet-lanes-plan-cycling-walking",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-20T17:22:27.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Labour slashes major car taxes to £1 for popular vehicles as Iran crisis sends fuel prices soaring",
    "Rachel Reeves scraps fuel duty hike in September as growing pressure forces Labour to 'step up'",
    "Soaring petrol and diesel costs risk pushing drivers to ditch cars and 'rethink' travel options",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nDrivers have been warned they face being pushed off some Oxfordshire roads under new council plans to create \"quieter\" streets for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.\n\nOxfordshire County Council has approved a pilot scheme to introduce more \"quiet lanes\" across the county. The roads would be changed to stop drivers using them as shortcuts, with measures such as gates, bollards, lower speed limits and new signs.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe council explained that the scheme is designed to make rural roads safer and calmer for people walking, cycling, wheeling and riding horses. Residents, farmers, businesses and emergency services would still be allowed access.\n\nUnder the plans, through traffic would be removed from selected minor roads where there is strong local support and where alternative routes for drivers are available.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nCouncillor Rebekah Fletcher, the council's cabinet member for transport management, said many small roads were never intended to carry large amounts of traffic.\n\n\"Quiet lanes are about making sure local roads work for the communities that live there, not as cut-throughs for traffic they were never designed to carry,\" she said.\n\nShe added that the council wanted to \"prioritise walking, wheeling, cycling and horse riding\" while making sure schemes were \"safe, effective and sensitive to their surroundings\".\n\nThe council explained how the Oxfordshire approach goes further than current Department for Transport guidance because it will not rely only on signs. Research has shown that simply putting up signs does not reliably cut traffic speeds or reduce the number of vehicles using roads.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nInstead, every new quiet lane in the pilot scheme will include physical measures to block through traffic, alongside speed limit reductions, which are expected to be set at 20mph in most cases.\n\nThe authority detailed how journey times for drivers should only increase slightly because suitable alternative routes must be in place before any scheme is approved.\n\nSeveral quiet lanes already exist in Oxfordshire, but the council noted that the new programme will create a more consistent county-wide system.\n\nPilot schemes will first be introduced using experimental traffic regulation orders. This allows changes to be tested before permanent decisions are made.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Labour slashes major car taxes to £1 for popular vehicles as Iran crisis sends fuel prices soaring\n  * Rachel Reeves scraps fuel duty hike in September as growing pressure forces Labour to 'step up'\n  * Soaring petrol and diesel costs risk pushing drivers to ditch cars and 'rethink' travel options\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe council will now work with parish and town councils, as well as local county councillors, to identify suitable roads for the first schemes.\n\nEvery proposal will also go through a statutory public consultation process, giving residents and road users the chance to comment before any permanent changes are agreed.\n\nSupporters of quiet lanes said they can improve safety, encourage active travel and make rural areas more pleasant by cutting noise and traffic levels.\n\nThe schemes are also intended to help connect bridleways and public rights of way, which could benefit horse riders and walkers using the countryside network.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHowever, critics of similar schemes elsewhere in the UK have argued that restricting through traffic can push vehicles onto surrounding roads and make journeys longer for drivers.\n\nThe council said all proposed sites will be judged using a county-wide framework, looking at safety, traffic levels, environmental impact, alternative routes and community support.\n\nFunding for the programme will come from the council's capital budget. Councillor Fletcher said the authority wanted to work closely with local communities before making permanent decisions.\n\n\"By piloting schemes first, we can get them right before any permanent decisions are made,\" she shared. \"I look forward to working with parish and town councils and local councillors on this locally led and innovative programme.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Drivers pushed off Oxfordshire roads under new 'quiet lanes' plan promoting cycling and walking"
}