Businesses see 'big drop' in trade after road closure
Queen Street is closed to buses for resurfacing outside Westgate shopping centre until 26 October.
Businesses report a 'big drop' in trade after road closure
Queen Street in Oxford closed for roadworks
Businesses close to the closure of a busy city street say trade has fallen sharply.
Queen Street in Oxford is being resurfaced outside the Westgate shopping centre after York stone paving laid when the centre was refurbished in 2017 cracked and became uneven.
The Art Café on Bonn Square says business is down 40% and it is considering closing earlier each day. Castle News and Classy Barbers on New Road both said trade had been cut in half as fewer customers were passing the roadworks.
Oxfordshire County Council says the work is being done by Landsec, the owner of the Westgate, and has apologised. The project is expected to be finished by 26 October.
Shoppers are currently having to use a narrow pathway to reach the Westgate, while buses are being diverted along different routes.
In a statement, the council said: "Because of the large area of carriageway affected, and the presence of hoardings on one side of the road, we are asking pedestrians to use the walkway provided, and for cyclists to dismount."
The closure of Queen Street has added to difficulties for Oxford's bus companies, which are already facing delays to the west of the centre after the introduction of a traffic filters trial.
Bus diversions are in place because of the closure of Queen Street.
Luke Marion, from the Oxford Bus Company, said its buses now have to travel further.
"The problem is that extra mileage involves going down to Oxpens and the railway station to turn around," he said.
He said this has caused long delays and led to services being cut short of their destinations in order to keep to timetables.
He said bus services have not been properly considered in planning when roadworks take place, but said Oxfordshire County Council now has a bus champion who will hopefully improve things in the future.
Last year, a Westgate Centre spokesperson said the road was "originally planned as a pedestrianised walkway" with the surface installed for that purpose, but that the "current vehicular usage" had caused the surface to deteriorate.