White Post Road at Bodicote closes round the clock from 19 August to 1 September, diverted via Bankside and the A4260. Plus the Cherwell Street scheme, now finished.

The one to plan around this month is at Bodicote. Oxfordshire County Council has made a temporary order closing White Post Road and Banbury Road from the A4260 slip road, and it comes into force on 19 August 2026. This is a 24-hour closure, not a night-time one, and the works are expected to run until 1 September 2026.

The job is a new central island, new road gullies, a footpath crossing, resurfacing of the main road and new markings. Emergency vehicles, the works traffic and access to property are exempt, and the road stays open to cyclists and pedestrians. The signed diversion is via Bankside, Hightown Road and the A4260, and back the same way. The order reference is T18304/AC.

If you commute from Bodicote, Adderbury or Bloxham into Banbury, that fortnight means either the A4260 all the way or a longer loop through Twyford. Allow for it rather than discovering it at half seven on the nineteenth.

Finished: the Cherwell Street scheme

The roadworks that dominated Banbury town centre for most of this year are over. On 4 August 2026 Oxfordshire County Council confirmed the Cherwell Street bus service improvement project is complete.

Construction started in January 2026. Surfacing and road lining finished on 17 July and the permanent traffic signals were installed and tested in early August. What Banbury has got for seven months of disruption is an extended running lane along Cherwell Street for left-turning northbound traffic, retimed signals at the George Street and Bridge Street junctions, improved pedestrian crossings and cleaned drainage.

It was paid for through the Department for Transport’s Bus Service Improvement Plan programme, with section 106 money from local developers covering the crossing and signal work at Bridge Street. Councillor Gareth Epps, the county’s cabinet member for transport and connectivity, said the changes “will help buses move through the area more efficiently, improving reliability for passengers”.

Overnight closures of the junctions feeding Cherwell Street, at Concord Avenue, Windsor Street, Bridge Street, Lower Cherwell Street and George Street, ran through early July under order T18033/AC and have now ended.

Already ordered for September

Three more closures are on the books. All three are microsurfacing, carried out by M Group Highways for the county council, and all are short.

Temporary road closures ordered in the Banbury area, autumn 2026
RoadFromToWork
White Post Road / Banbury Road, Bodicote19 Aug1 SeptCentral island, gullies, crossing, resurfacing
Red House Road, Bodicote16 Sept, 08:0019 Sept, 16:00Microsurfacing
Dorchester Grove, Banbury17 Sept, 09:3021 Sept, 15:30Microsurfacing
Briggs Close, Banbury17 Sept, 08:0021 Sept, 16:00Microsurfacing
Quarry Road, Hornton29 Sept1 OctCarriageway chamber rebuild

Sources: Oxfordshire County Council temporary traffic regulation orders published in the Banbury Guardian, 23 July and 6 August 2026, via the Public Notice Portal.

Access is kept for emergency vehicles and for properties inside each closure where that is practicable. Hornton’s diversion is signed via Horley Path Road and the A422 Stratford Road.

The routes that carry Banbury

Roadworks come and go. The geography does not, and Banbury’s is simple enough to hold in your head.

The main road routes in and out of Banbury and Bicester Schematic diagram. The M40 runs down the right side with junction 11 at Banbury, junction 10 at Ardley and junction 9 at Wendlebury for Bicester. From Banbury the A422 runs west to Stratford and east to Brackley, the A361 runs north-west to Shipston and south to Chipping Norton, the A423 runs north to Coventry and south to Oxford, and the A4260 runs south through Bodicote to Deddington and Kidlington. Bicester is served by the A41, A34 and B4100. Every route out of Banbury, and the junction it feeds Schematic, not to scale. Read it for which road goes where, not for distance or direction. M40 J11 Banbury J10 Ardley (A43) J9 Wendlebury (A34, A41) Banbury OX16 Bicester A422 east to Brackley A422 west to Stratford A361 to Shipston A423 north to Coventry A361 south to Chipping Norton A4260 through Bodicote, Adderbury and Deddington A41, A34, B4100 The A4260 is the diversion route when Bodicote closes, and the pinch point when it does not.

The M40 is the spine. Junction 11 is Banbury’s, on the A422 east of the town. Junction 10 at Ardley takes the A43 towards Northampton and has the Cherwell Valley services. Junction 9 at Wendlebury is Bicester’s, meeting the A34 and the A41. The five miles between junctions 9 and 10 are the busiest stretch of the whole motorway, which is worth knowing before you commit to it at five o’clock.

Into Banbury itself, four routes matter. The A422 runs east to the M40 and west towards Stratford. The A361 comes down from Shipston and heads south for Chipping Norton. The A423 links north to Southam and Coventry and south towards Oxford. And the A4260 is the old Oxford road, running south through Bodicote, Adderbury and Deddington to Kidlington. That last one is the road most likely to be affected by anything happening in the villages, and it is the diversion for most things that are not.

Longer-term schemes

Two county council schemes are live in the district and both will disrupt traffic before they help it.

Access to Banbury Station extends Tramway Road to meet Station Approach Road at a new roundabout, and rebuilds the pedestrian, cycle, bus and taxi access to the station along with parking, drop-off, lighting and drainage. Work touches Station Approach Road, Bridge Street and Hightown Road. Permission was granted on 27 October 2022; the west car park has reopened and a new drop-off facility was programmed for spring 2026 subject to a further application. Funding is from the Housing and Growth Deal and developer contributions.

A4095 and B4100 Banbury Road, Bicester is the county’s scheme to add capacity for Bicester’s growth. It is listed among Oxfordshire’s major current roadworks.

Checking before you set off

Checked on 9 August 2026. If you are heading for the station rather than through town, the train times are here.