13/03/2014 BBC Oxford News

Good evening. There are concerns for

Good evening. There are concerns about the level of traffic

congestion that will accomp`ny the start of construction work on the

controversial high speed rahl line, HS2. The work is due to start in

2017 ` bringing thousands of lorries to our region every day. Banbury,

Aylesbury and Buckingham ard being singled out as places which will

suffer more jams over sever`l years. Helen Catt has this report.

Before this, will come a lot more of this.

Thousands of lorries will nded to use the roads of Oxfordshird and

Buckinghamshire each day to build vital elements of the HS2 lhne, like

bridges and cuttings. According to HS2 Limited at the

busiest period of constructhon and average one extra lorry will go

along this road every 13 seconds. A few miles away is the farl which

Rachel Halverson's family h`s worked for a century. She'll lose land to

construction ` but now worrhes the extra traffic will affect hdr daily

life and her shop too. My htsband getting to the station. It will be

one more hurdle to get here. Major jams are also predictdd at

Banbury, two junctions of the M 0, Aylesbury and Buckingham.

And around Calvert the busidst months will see 3,000 extra lorries

and the same number of cars. For people living in rural villages

between these routes, the lorries operated by HS2 may not be the

biggest problem. They can be constrained by

agreement, but other traffic will not. We are concerned that the other

traffic will seek to use thd back roads through our village.

HS2 Limited says it will put controls on what vehicles are used

and will work with local authorities to minimise disruption. It will be

worth it. It will tie our country together. It will be worth ht. It

will tie our country togethdr. It will European competitors.

Meanwhile Cherwell District Council intends to petition MPs on the

issue. Meanwhile, the Transport Secretary

has been to see work begin on the new rail line between Oxford and

London Marylebone. The ?300 million Evergreen project will conndct

Oxford to the capital, via `n upgraded station in Bicester.

It looks like a building site now but by some time next year this will

be a fully functioning really lying. `` railway line. Why is this

development important? We are seeing the start of the first new railway

line between a British city and London in 100 years. This whll link

Oxford and London. Not only this, but the ?130 million

investment will see new stations being constructed. This 1940s

eyesore in Water Eaton was demolished last year to makd way for

the new Oxford Parkway stathon. Currently most commuters who live in

Oxford and work in London, tse the First Great Western line vi` Didcot

into London Paddington. Frol 20 6 they'll have the option of taking

the Chiltern Railways train via Bicester into London Marylebone

People living north of Oxford will be able to get on board at Oxford

Parkway. Today the Secretarx of State for Transport, Patrick

McLoughlin, was on site herd to see the start of work in Bicestdr.

It shows that we are investhng in an modern railway line. We havd seen

passenger numbers go from 740 million to 1.5 billion passdngers

per year. That requires a htge amount of investment and we are

doing that. Although this is good news for

commuters, you won't be abld to get to London any faster. Travel time

from Oxford to Marylebone whll still be around 55 minutes. The ftll line

to Oxford will open in the summer of 2016.

There's been an armed raid on a bookmakers in Headington. Two men

threatened staff with at thd Stan James shop in Roundway at around

11.30 this morning. It's thought the men had a gun. They left with money

in a sports bag. The body of a soldier who dhed in

Afghanistan has been been flown into RAF Brize Norton. Sapper Ad`m

Moralee, from Newcastle died in an accident at Camp Bastion last

Wednesday. Soldiers lined the street at the Memorial Garden in C`rterton

as the cortege passed. His family paid tribute to him saying he'd

"touched the hearts of all of us". A major commuter route over the

River Thames has re`opened `fter it was closed six weeks ago because of

the flooding. Temporary rep`irs have been carried out on the road at

Sonning Bridge in South Oxfordshire. The council needs to carry out more

work, but has come under crhticism from drivers and politicians for not

acting quickly enough. Nikkh Mitchell reports.

The emergency repairs began this morning so one carriageway `t least

could be reopened. There has been huge political pressure to get this

busy commuter route open ag`in. All the local MPs including Theresa

May have been inundated with complaints from businesses `nd

residents. They have been urging Oxfordshire County Council to act

more quickly. Now the floodwaters have dropped engineers have conceded

a temporary fix is adequate for now. But a ?1 million bid has gone into

the government in the hope ht will pay for a more permanent repairs, so

the roads will have to be closed again soon. Now we can work out a

proper plan. We have got a balance as to when the best time is for

this. Even that is permanent repairs will not be permanent. The long`term

more expensive plan is to r`ise the road significantly so it dods not

get engulfed by flood water again. That is all for now. We are back

tomorrow morning. For many today was at day of

glorious sunshine. A similar picture tomorrow morning. That fog bubbling

up through the course of thd night. There could be dense patches.

Temperatures down to three degrees. Perhaps some rule fog. We hope to

see the fog gradually lifting. Taking a look ahead, the wedkend

the Thames estuary, temperatures could be 17 or 18 degrees. Now we

will get the National forecast. It has been a funny day. Warm and

sunny for some, cool and mystique for others, cloudy and damp for a

few. Wet weather getting into northern Scotland tonight. Fog is

the issue. It already is across the heart of England with thick patches.

It could become widespread through the rest of the night. Touches of

frost where the skies remain clear for any length of time. Tomorrow

morning, difficult conditions across more central and southern parts of

England. Dense patches. If you are planning a journey early, allow

extra time because you could run into trouble. Check out your BBC

local radio station first thing in the morning. There could be some

disk -- significant disruption. There is a yellow warning in force.

Some of us can look forward too hazy sunshine