Public exhibition on possible bypass for Farthinghoe

Northamptonshire Highways are inviting residents living in the village to come and have a look at possible options in the village hall on Cockley Road from 1pm-7pm on Friday and 5.30pm-8pm on Saturday.

If there is consensus from the village following the consultation, a report will be brought before Northamptonshire County Council’s Cabinet in spring 2016 seeking to add the road to a list of priority schemes.

One option is a southern bypass with the route having an overall length of 2.2km. One at-grade priority junction would provide access to the west of Farthinghoe and a staggered crossroad junctions would provide access to the east.

Both junctions would have a right turn provision to permit free flow of traffic on the A422. Two minor roads south of Farthinghoe, including Clarke Lane, would pass over the A422 with no connections.

The other option would be a northern bypass would measure 2.3km in length and at-grade priority junctions would provide access east and west of Farthinghoe from the A422.

The Cockley Road would pass over the A422 with no connection and an over bridge would also be required to accommodate a farm access and bridleway.

A leaflet has been posted to properties in the village, and it said: “This scheme has not been a priority for some years. However, safety problems in the village continue due to the road being too narrow for two HGVs to pass each other.

“This will be made worse by the level of development proposed in Banbury and Brackley.

“There would be significant imbalance from the deep cuttings and limited fill and therefore the significant excess of excavated material from the cut would be utilised to form a bund upto five metres in height.

“This would offer direct screening of the road from properties on the edge of the village. However due to the topography of the landscape, these properties would lose views of the current open outlook.”

Options for improvement of the A422 through the village together with alternative routes for a bypass were developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Initially three routes were considered by the county council and a route north of Farthinghoe was preferred. However the public argued that alternative options locating routes further from the village should be developed.

John Grant, chairman of Farthinghoe Parish Council, said: “We as a council are not determining whether it is a north or south bypass - that is not our job. We do know we need a bypass to avoid all the congestion and pollution. There have been a number of fatal accidents between this village and Brackley.”