Traffic issues and costs

 

What are the traffic issues in Henley?

 

"Henley has a long-standing problem of traffic congestion. This is caused by a mixture of commuting both into and out of the town, and through traffic, which uses the town's bridge to cross the River Thames," says South Oxfordshire District Council.

 

The main points of congestion are Henley Bridge and the Station Road and Reading Road junction. During the weekday morning peak hour, around 1700 vehicles pass over Henley Bridge.  Over 12 hours (7 am to 7 pm), around 15500 vehicles pass over the bridge.

 

On the Reading Road over a 12-hour period (7 am to 7 pm), around 9200 vehicles are recorded on an average weekday, whilst on Station Road around 7500 vehicles are recorded.  This makes the Reading Road and Station Road junction an area where congestion frequently occurs. 

 

The main reason for the increase in traffic within the Oxfordshire market towns is greater use of cars by local residents, especially for shorter journeys.

 

As with many market towns, the street layout in Henley is not designed to cope with large volumes of traffic. The high-sided narrow streets make it more difficult for pollution to disperse further compounding the problem. 

 

Air quality monitoring undertaken by South Oxfordshire District Council in Henley since 1997 has shown that the levels of nitrogen dioxide in areas of the town exceed EU and Government standards.