Residents have welcomed the opening of Bicester’s new Tesco store but raised concerns over temporary road changes near its entrance.
The new double the size Tesco supermarket opened its doors last Thursday morning after years of looking to expand.
But temporary changes to the junction of the A41 Oxford Road have led to congestion on the A41 flyover after a left-turn slip lane was removed overnight.
Oxfordshire County Council said the changes were made for “safety reasons”.
The highway authority said the slip road had been removed and temporary signs and road markings were installed at the A41 south in response to the newly opened Tesco.
It said: “These temporary measures will remain in place until the traffic management is put in place for the work to the A41 roundabout in association with Bicester Village expansion over next few months.”
The council said road work roundabout and A41 junction at the entrance to the new Bicester Business Park, where Tesco is based, should have been done at the same time.
But work was delayed and now there was a “conflict” at the junction.
The council warned people would face delays for several months and apologised for the “inconvenience”.
Since the road changes were made residents have taken to social media to air their views.
Kane Gray posted on social networking site Facebook, “So since they made the flyover by big Tesco into a give way section rather than a flow road to the left. Seen quite a few people race over it without looking right. Only a matter of time. Also the congestion on the flyover is now epically bad. With tailbacks all the way back to the Langford village roundabout most times of the day.”(sic)
And traffic action group Bicester TAG also posted on Facebook. It said: “Reports that the council’s 11th hour safety changes on the A41 are causing delays. Pity all this hadn’t been thought out years ago. Blame your planners Cherwell and your traffic team OxfordshireCC.”(sic)
Fences have been put up around the former Tesco store in Pingle Drive, ready for demolition.
Bicester Village will expand into the site building about 30 new stores and parking.
