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Cabbies rejoice as Oxford's Botley Road finally reopens after three and a half years of misery
Botley Road in Oxford reopened to traffic on Sunday 20 September 2026, ending a closure of roughly three and a half years that had forced taxi and private hire drivers onto a six-mile detour, according to Oxfordshire County Council, which oversaw the works.
The road closed in April 2023 to allow construction beneath the railway bridge as part of the wider expansion of Oxford station, a project intended to increase the number of train services running through the city. The closure lasted far longer than originally planned, and reporting on the scheme has put its overall cost at £237m, up from an original estimate of £161m.
As part of the reopening, the council has added two new four-metre-wide walkways and cycleways beneath the rail bridge, one on each side, along with a new footbridge connecting Becket Street car park to Oxford railway station. The rebuilt bridge has a clearance height of 4.4 metres, enough to accommodate the city's local double-decker buses, and parking spaces at Becket Street car park have been reinstated.
The reopening does not mark the end of change for drivers using the route. From 20 September a temporary £5 congestion charge applied at six locations across the city, and the council says this will be replaced from Monday 28 September by a traffic filters trial, run under an experimental traffic regulation order that could remain in place for up to 18 months.
Under the filters, cars will no longer be able to pay a charge to pass through the restricted points; the council's own guidance says the restrictions apply to cars and motorhomes, with free permits available to groups including Blue Badge holders, health and care workers and unpaid care.
For drivers who have worked around the closure since 2023, the reopening was welcomed. The reopening follows a period in which Oxford's taxi and private hire trade has repeatedly had to adjust to changing access arrangements in the city, including a since-reversed restriction on taxi access to the Westgate area and continuing questions over black cab access as the council has pursued a wider pedestrianisation and bus gate programme.
Botley Road's reopening removes one long-standing source of lost time and extra mileage for drivers, but the shift to a traffic filters trial from 28 September means the city's access rules for the trade are set to change again within days of the road reopening.
Councillor Gareth Epps, Oxfordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: "If you don't currently have a permit and think you may be eligible, now is the time to check and apply. Taking action now will help ensure a smooth transition when the trial begins on 28 September."
