The reopening of a major traffic route in the centre of Oxford has been delayed further, three years after it first closed.
Botley Road had been due to reopen at the end of August, having first closed in April 2023 for work on a £161m project to upgrade Oxford Railway Station.
But, on Wednesday, Network Rail apologised and said the route would now not reopen as planned after gas leaks were uncovered during recent excavation, adding work would likely take “around four to six weeks”.
The delay is the latest setback for the project and will also push back Oxfordshire County Council’s plans to replace the temporary congestion charge with traffic filters to coincide with the route’s reopening.
Announcing the delay, Network Rail said to ”avoid disruptive and unplanned work to repair potential gas leaks in the future” it had agreed to allow gas distributor SGN to replace a section of its network beneath Botley Road.
It said it was “working closely with SGN to confirm a new reopening date for the road”.