Could lorries be banned from overtaking on the A34?

Lorries using the A34 may be banned from overtaking after a motion proposed by Oxfordshire County Council

Lorries using the A34 may be banned from overtaking if central government approves a motion passed by Oxfordshire County Council on Tuesday.

The Secretary of State for Transport will now consider whether to block HGV drivers from using the second lane on the A34 between Junction 13 of the M4 and Junction 9 of the M40 after councillors voted overwhelmingly in support of the measure.

The council, which voted 51 in favour with nine abstaining, does not have the legal authority to pass the motion outright and it will now be taken for consideration to central government.

Patrick Greene, who forwarded the motion, said: “I hope there will be measures taken to keep HGVs in the inside lane as a trial or possible other measures such as speed restrictions as we need something to be done as an urgent matter.

“Every time there is a significant accident all side roads are congested with traffic trying to avoid the hold-ups on the A34.

“The cost to the economy is not easy to evaluate but it must run into many millions of pounds over a period.”

The road has seen several serious traffic incidents recently, prompting calls for safety reviews.

A car transporter, which crashed through the central reservation at East Isley in February, caused a road closure which lasted nearly 12 hours.

The same month a southbound section was closed for most of the day due to an overturned HGV and chemical spill.

Gary Clark, who is the managing director of Newbury-based transport consultancy firm Fleet Development, argued that the measure would be detrimental to the haulage industry.

He said: “A total ban would be a negative approach and would hinder the industry as a whole.

“I think the more appropriate approach would be to limit small sections of the road.”

Currently Highways England has only put one permanent overtaking restriction in place on the entire stretch of road, at Gore Hill, near East Isley.

Mr Clark said that hot-spots existed at the southern stretch of the road, closer to Newbury than Oxford, and that a better alternative might be to introduce longer vehicles or to raise the speed limit for HGVs to 60mph.

He added: “A total ban would certainly cause an awful lot of frustration for HGV drivers and it may be dangerous at some of the junctions and I don’t think it is that necessary.”

East Ilsley parish councillor Andrew Sharp said that a blanket ban would be “draconian”.

He said: “It would certainly make a difference but I don’t think it necessarily needs to be the whole stretch because the A34 is almost flat between Didcot and the M40.

“There’s a reason I am not supporting a blanket ban and that is because it would be a
case of picking on the lorry drivers.”

He said that the “hazardous” area was the southern portion of the road where it crosses the Chilterns.

“The convoy effect is one of the reasons I think a whole-length ban is ridiculous” he said.

“But doing it at short sections would break up the convoy.”

Asked if a third lane was the answer, he said: “I think the original planners [of the A34] have now created a problem and I don’t know how they can get out of it because there’s not enough room to put a third lane in.”