Oxfordshire County Council has opened a public consultation on a quiet lane trial at Shepherd’s Pit Lane in the parish of Stanton St John.
A gate has been installed at the Bayswater Road end of the lane to reduce the impact of motor traffic and create safer, more attractive conditions for people walking, wheeling, cycling and horse riding. Access will remain available to residents, farmers, landowners, businesses and emergency services.
Other through traffic will be directed along the B4027 Wheatley Road and Bayswater Road, which the council says was already the most direct route.
First trial under countywide policy
The consultation will run for at least six months, while the trial is scheduled to continue for at least a year. It is the first scheme delivered under Oxfordshire County Council’s countywide quiet lanes policy and pilot programme, approved in May 2026.
The policy allows gates or bollards to be used in quiet lane trials. The council said updated evidence indicated that signage-only schemes did not reduce traffic or speeds sufficiently to improve safety.
Councillor Gareth Epps, the council’s cabinet member for transport management, said the trial would test how a “fully filtered” quiet lane worked in practice and provide evidence for future decisions.
“By removing through traffic, quiet lanes can reduce vehicle numbers and speeds, lower the risk and severity of collisions, and make minor roads feel calmer and safer for people who walk, cycle, wheel and ride horses,” he said.
The scheme was developed following local concerns about road safety and limited opportunities for safe walking and cycling between Stanton St John and Oxford. Engagement with residents, landowners and the parish council took place during 2025 and 2026.
Throughout the trial, the council will collect consultation responses and monitoring data. At the end of the experimental period, the cabinet member will decide publicly whether the measures should remain, be amended or be removed.