Banbury Roadworks: Centre Street Shut from Monday 21 Sept

Centre Street in Banbury closes on Monday 21 September for microsurfacing, and reopens at 4pm on Thursday 24 September. Oxfordshire County Council made the order on 7 September under reference TTRO 71. The work is being done by M Group Highways Limited for the county council, and access is kept for emergency vehicles and for properties inside the closed length where that is practicable.

The same morning, a longer job starts off Bloxham Road. The side road between numbers 141 and 229 Bloxham Road closes from 21 September until 11 October, three weeks, for Thames Water to over-pump between manholes, shut off the existing main and install a new manhole and line. The suggested alternative route in the order is Bloxham Road itself.

Every closure on this Banbury roadworks page comes from a statutory order made or proposed by a council, and carries its reference so you can check it.

Finishing on Monday

Three streets resurfaced last week reopen on Monday 21 September, so if you met cones there this weekend they are on their way out:

• Dorchester Grove: reopens 21 September, 15:30. This one was only ever a proposed order, so check before you rely on it.
• Briggs Close: reopens 21 September, 16:00. The order was made on 7 September, so it is now fixed rather than proposed.
• The Fairway: reopens 21 September, 16:00. Its signed diversion is via Withycombe Drive, Hastings Road, Bretch Hill and Prescott Avenue.

What is shut right now

Blackwood Place, Bodicote is closed between the electricity sub-station and the junction with Weeping Cross. The order came into force on 31 August for Thames Water maintenance and runs to 25 September (T18362/RAG). The alternative route is signed locally.

Acre Ditch and Pound Lane, Burdrop and Sibford Gower, about seven miles west of Banbury, are closed overnight between 20:00 and 06:00. The closure came into force on 11 September for resurfacing and road markings, and the anticipated completion date is 22 September (T18091/AC). The diversion is via Acre Ditch, Hawks Lane, the B4035 and Pound Lane. Cyclists and pedestrians still get through.

Coming in the next fortnight

• Ardley Road, Middleton Stoney, 21 to 22 September: not a closure but a speed limit cut from 60mph to 30mph while OCU Group replaces rutter poles and upgrades the overhead line. The order was made on 14 September.
• Merton Way, Yarnton, 22 September 08:00 to 26 September 16:00: road closure for microsurfacing.
• Quarry Road, Hornton, 29 September to 1 October: carriageway chamber rebuild. Diversion via Horley Path Road, the A422 Stratford Road, Hornton Lane and Wroxton Lane.

Sheep Street cycling rule becomes permanent on 25 September

Bicester’s Sheep Street has allowed cycling through the pedestrianised area under an experimental order since 25 March 2025. On 14 September the county council made an amendment order that replaces the experiment and makes the measure permanent from 25 September.

The rule itself does not change. Pedal cycles may be ridden in any direction in Sheep Street within the restricted pedestrianised area at all times, except on Fridays between 9am and 4pm, during the street market, when cyclists must dismount. The exception to that exception is a cycle being used as a mobility aid. The order reference is CM/12.6.129/E0004, and it updates map tiles CV79 and CW79.

The Michaelmas Fair closes the town centre for five days

The biggest closure of the autumn is not roadworks. Oxfordshire County Council has published notice that it proposes to make the Banbury Michaelmas Fair (Special Event) Order 2026 on 5 October. The traffic measures run from 6am on Tuesday 13 October until 6am on Sunday 18 October, which is longer than the fair itself.

Vehicles are banned from:

• Bridge Street, from the bus station access road to the High Street and Broad Street junction, and from The Tchure along the north and east sides of the Town Hall to where it meets the main length of Bridge Street.
• Market Place Road and Cornhill, for their whole lengths.
• High Street, from the George Street junction outside White Lion Walk to the Broad Street junction.
• Broad Street, from the High Street junction to the George Street junction.

Two things change that catch people out every year. The one-way restriction in Parsons Street and Butchers Row is suspended, so both take two-way traffic for the week. And the taxi ranks in Bridge Street and Horse Fair move to Broad Street and High Street.

The signed alternative routes are Cherwell Street, George Street, Broad Street, Marlborough Road, High Street, Horse Fair, North Bar Street and Castle Street westbound, and the reverse eastbound. Emergency services are exempt, and loading and unloading is allowed at Broad Street premises that can only be reached that way. Fairground vehicles not at the fair are to be permitted to park on the Wildmere Road industrial estate. The order reference is S26-039 and Cherwell District Council sponsors the event.

The Michaelmas Fair dates and what is on are here.

Parking charges change on 28 September

This is not a closure, but it will change what your journey costs. Cherwell District Council has given statutory notice that from 28 September its car parks in Banbury and Bicester stop being free in the evening: a charge of £1.60 for up to 14 hours applies between 6pm and 8am, every day. Season ticket prices go up at the same time. What changes, car park by car park.

What is shut, and when

Every closure below comes from a statutory order published by Oxfordshire County Council or Cherwell District Council. Where an order has been made, the dates are fixed. Where the council has only given notice that it intends to make one, treat the dates as planned: they are the council’s own working programme and they do move.

Sources: Oxfordshire County Council temporary traffic regulation orders, permanent traffic orders and special event orders, West Northamptonshire Council orders, and Cherwell District Council’s parking charge notice, published on the Public Notice Portal on 23 July, 6 August, 13 August, 20 August, 27 August, 3 September, 10 September, 10 September, 11 September, 12 September and 17 September 2026.

Three of the closures carry a diversion or an extent worth knowing in advance:

• The Fairway: via Withycombe Drive, Hastings Road, Bretch Hill and Prescott Avenue.
• Quarry Road, Hornton: via Horley Path Road, the A422 Stratford Road, Hornton Lane and Wroxton Lane.
• Banbury Road, Shipton on Cherwell: via the A4095 and the B4027.

For the rest, access is kept for emergency vehicles and for properties inside each closure where that is practicable.

Closures that have now ended

• Longfellow Road, Banbury, microsurfacing, 16 to 19 September (TTRO 57).
• Red House Road, Bodicote, microsurfacing, 16 to 19 September (TTRO 56).
• Orchard Road, Ardley, microsurfacing, 15 to 19 September.
• Overthorpe Road, Overthorpe, about two miles east of Banbury, closed by West Northamptonshire Council from 15 September for a stop tap replacement. The order runs for 18 months but the council’s own notice expected three days of works, so the road should be open; the diversion was via Warkworth Road and Middleton Cheney Road (ref 26/27 W210).
• A361 Southam Road and Horse Fair, the overnight resurfacing, finished on 11 September.
• South Newington Footpath 355/16/10 at Tink-a-Tank, closed from 24 August, was due to reopen on 11 September (T18292/AC).

None of these has been extended by any later notice we can find. If you meet cones at any of them, the order behind them is a new one.

Footpaths closed into the autumn

In north Banbury, National Grid is upgrading the electricity network. Footpaths on Harewood Road, Kedleston Rise and Arbury Close are covered by a closure order running from 6 July to 30 September 2026 (T18140/AC). The order allows for walk boards rather than a full closure where that is workable, so the paths will not all be shut all of the time.

Two things that are not roadworks but will change your journey

Residents’ parking is now enforced in the Hightown Road and Broughton Road areas. The orders came into force on 17 August, and permit-only bays and shared-use bays now apply on nine streets. If you have been parking free all day near the station or off Broughton Road, that has ended. The streets, the hours and the permit costs are here.

The School Street at Harriers Banbury Academy started on 2 September. Harriers View is closed to most motor vehicles at its junction with Bloxham Road, 8.15am to 9.15am and 2.30pm to 4pm, on term-time weekdays, enforced by camera. It runs under an experimental order, so objections can be made for six months from the day it came into force. What it means, and who is exempt.

Finished: the Cherwell Street scheme

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

Construction started in January 2026. What Banbury 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.

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 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

• one.network is the live map every council and utility feeds. Search Banbury or Bicester for what is dug up today.
• Oxfordshire County Council roadworks for the county’s own schemes and the full list of current closures.
• National Highways for the M40 and the A34, which are not the county’s roads.
• Public Notice Portal for the legal notices behind closures, which carry the dates and diversion routes before the cones appear. Search by an OX16 or OX26 postcode.
• Parking in the district’s own car parks is listed on Cherwell District Council’s parking pages.

Checked on 20 September 2026. If you are heading for the station rather than through town, the train times are here.