Botley Road reopens 20 September, filters start 28th

Botley Road will reopen to traffic on Sunday 20 September, Network Rail confirmed on 29 July, ending a closure at the Oxford railway bridge that began on 11 April 2023. Eight days later, on Monday 28 September, Oxfordshire County Council will switch on its traffic filter trial across Oxford, and the option to pay £5 to drive through will disappear with it. For drivers in Botley, Cumnor, North Hinksey and the rest of the Vale, those two dates change the same journey in opposite directions within a single week.

The reopening date, and why it moved again

The road had been due to reopen at the end of August, a target set by a programme review in January 2025. On 22 July, Network Rail said it would miss it. During excavation for the drainage of the new road layout, contractors found three minor gas leaks on a section of the gas network owned by SGN. Rather than reopen the road and dig it up again later, Network Rail agreed to let SGN replace a length of metal gas main with plastic pipe while the road was already closed. (Network Rail, 22 July 2026)

Tim Walden, capital delivery director for Network Rail’s Great Western route, said at the time: “We know this news will be deeply disappointing for residents, businesses and everyone who relies on Botley Road, and we’re very sorry for the continued disruption and uncertainty this will cause.”

SGN’s work was scheduled to finish on Saturday 8 August, with Network Rail then completing the rest of its own programme before handing the road back on 20 September. (Network Rail, 29 July 2026)

The reaction from this side of the city boundary was blunt. Cllr Bethia Thomas, leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, published a statement on 24 July expressing what the council called her deep frustration and incredulity at the further delay. Cllr Gareth Epps, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport management, said the news was “frustrating for residents and businesses who have endured this closure for far too long as it is”. (Oxfordshire County Council, 22 July 2026)

Key dates

The filters follow eight days later

The traffic filter trial has been waiting on this road. The county council could not start it while Botley Road was shut, because the filters assume drivers have an alternative route around the city. With a reopening date fixed, the council confirmed on 6 August that the trial begins on Monday 28 September. It can run for up to 18 months.

Six locations are involved, the same six that carry Oxford’s temporary £5 congestion charge today: Hythe Bridge Street, St Cross Road, St Clement’s Street and Thames Street, each restricted 7am to 7pm daily, plus Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way, restricted Monday to Saturday from 7am to 9am and 3pm to 6pm. All operate year round, including bank holidays. (Oxfordshire County Council, about the traffic filters)

That last detail is worth reading twice. Under the congestion charge, all six locations are chargeable from 7am to 7pm. Under the filters, Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way are restricted only at peak times, so two of the six actually get easier outside those windows.

The restriction applies to cars only. Vans, lorries, motorbikes, mopeds, scooters, buses, minibuses and coaches can pass at any time without a permit.

What it means for you

The £5 escape route ends. Under the temporary congestion charge you can currently drive through any of the six points and pay £5 for the day. From 28 September you cannot pay your way through a filter at all. Either your vehicle is exempt, or you hold a permit, or you go round.

Vale residents get 25 free day passes a year. Anyone living in Oxfordshire outside Oxford, which includes Abingdon, Wantage, Faringdon, Grove and Botley, is entitled to 25 free day passes for the year. Oxford residents get 100. Permits are virtual and free, and existing congestion charge permits convert automatically. (Oxfordshire County Council, traffic filter permits)

Twenty-five passes is roughly one crossing a fortnight. If you drive into Oxford through one of those six points more often than that, the practical answer from 28 September is a different route, a different mode or a park and ride, not a payment.

The penalty, and the grace period. A contravention brings a £70 penalty, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days and rising to £105 if it is still unpaid after 28 days. For the first six months of the trial, a driver’s first contravention brings a warning notice rather than a fine.

Buses have not caught up yet. As of 14 August, Oxford Bus Company’s service updates page still lists the Botley Road closure as running “until further notice”, with routes 4A, 4B, 44, 63 and 63S unable to run through the rail bridge and no restoration date published. If you rely on those services, check the operator’s own page in the week before 20 September rather than assuming the timetable flips on the day.

If you are driving anywhere near Oxford that weekend, expect the first days after reopening to be busy while traffic that has been dispersed for nearly three and a half years finds the route again. Our Abingdon roadworks and travel page tracks the current closures, and if the filters push you towards the train, the cost of getting to London from Abingdon sets out what the three nearest stations charge.

One question is still open. Neither Network Rail’s Oxfordshire pages nor the county council’s Oxford City Station Phase 2C page says whether Botley Road will need to close again for a later phase of the station scheme, and no completion date for the wider upgrade has been published. Until one of them says otherwise, 20 September is a reopening, not a guarantee that the digging is finished.