Oxford United Football Club New Stadium
Highways and transport – Frequently Asked Questions
June 2025
Overview
This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) note sets out answers to key questions on highways and transport matters in relation to the Oxford United new stadium project at The Triangle. All the answers are taken from information provided to Cherwell DC in the new stadium planning application.
It is recognised that transport to and from the new stadium is important to local communities around the stadium. The Club and its team have worked hard to provide the required information to the highways authorities, which has been rigorously assessed by these independent bodies.
We are encouraged that National Highways, Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) Highways and Thames Valley Police consider the transport aspects of the new stadium to be acceptable. We are also pleased that Chiltern Railways and the Oxford Bus Company support the proposals. Details on the match day transport plans are set out in this document.
Ask us – do you have a transport or match day management question?
This FAQ answers the main questions related to transport and match day management. There will be ongoing local engagement on these areas prior to and during the stadium operating with relevant local stakeholders via the Safety Advisory Group and Matchday Steering Group for the stadium.
If you have a question not answered here please let us know by emailing oxfordunitedfc@devcomms.co.uk.
Key questions and answers
Will there be road diversions and when will these take place?
On match days which generate a high level of ticket sales (e.g. first team match days), Oxford Road private vehicle traffic will be temporally diverted for a short time to Frieze Way for the safety of the supporters travelling from Oxford Parkway to the stadium, as shown in the diagram that can be found below.
It is expected that the diversion will only be required for 30 match day / stadium hire football events – less than 1 in 10 days each year. There are also unlikely to be diversions from late May to mid August outside the regular football season.
In terms of other events, it is not proposed that the stadium will host concerts or any other major events that would require a road diversion. However, it will be utilised for a wide range of activities including conferences, meetings, trade shows, corporate events and dinners. Over the course of a year, it is anticipated that around 580 events will be hosted. These will be of differing scales, with the majority being smaller events with an average attendance of 10 to 30 people.
The largest meeting room at the stadium can host up to 1,000 attendees and initial projections anticipate that there will be approximately 85 events with an average of 150 people, and 68 large events with an average of number of 700 people. This includes Christmas parties.
How long is the match day road diversion and how will this affect my journey?
The road diversion has been modelled on the stadium at full capacity and shown that spectators will be cleared to ensure the diversion will be in place for no longer than 45 minutes before kick off. This includes a 30 minute diversion and an allowance for 15 minutes set up time.
The post-match diversion will be set-up 15 minutes prior to the end of the match and remain in place for 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Buses will be permitted through Oxford Road during the diversion period, as well as emergency vehicles and cycles.
The diversion will be removed during the match and roads will not be diverted for the entire match.
A traffic management contractor will be appointed to manage the diversion process and would be expected to locate traffic marshals and Variable Message Signs (VMS) in key locations. The VMS signs (as shown on the plan above) will be located;
- north of the stadium on Oxford Road on the southern arm of Kidlington Roundabout and
- south of the stadium at the junction between Oxford Road and Oxford Parkway.
The contractor will manage the diversion, alongside Oxfordshire County Council Network Management and the Oxford United match day control room.
What are the plans for getting fans to and from the stadium without impacting my journey?
Our target is to ensure that at least 90% of fans travel to the stadium by transport modes other than private car. There would be no parking for fans at the stadium, aside from disabled blue badge holders.
The Club is already preparing a dedicated digital hub / website to educate fans on the best, most sustainable transport options to the new stadium. This would be in place well in advance of the new stadium opening to ensure that fans are educated from day one on the best transport options.
The main methods of transport will be:
- Train to/from Oxford Parkway
- The main rail link to/from the stadium, less than a 5-minute walk
- Served by Chiltern Railways London-Oxford line and, later this year, the new East West Rail route from Oxford to Milton Keyes
- Fan parking discouraged in Oxford Parkway park and ride
- Crowd management and queuing systems in place to and from the station on match days
- Link into future Cowley branch line extension
- Park and ride sites with bus / shuttle services to/from the stadium – see a plan of this below.
- Peartree – new stadium shuttle service
- Thornhill – existing 700 bus service to Oxford Parkway
- Redbridge –new stadium shuttle service or extension to Stagecoach services to Oxford Parkway
- Seacourt – new shuttle service to Oxford Parkway
- Thornhill – new shuttle service to Oxford Parkway
- Eynsham (under construction) – new stadium shuttle service
- Scheduled bus services operated by Stagecoach and Oxford Buses on Oxford Road to/from Bicester, Carterton, Didcot, Headington and Thame.
- Private hire coaches for away fans with dedicated coach parking at Oxford Parkway.
- Private hire coaches would be located in Oxford Parkway park and ride. These are pre-booked with controlled entry.
- Cycle and pedestrian access via existing and improved links to/from the stadium – see plan below.
- There is an extensive network of pedestrian and cycle routes to and from the stadium as shown on the plan. The Club is also committed to providing a new cycle and footpath on Frieze Way between Kidlington Roundabout and Pear Tree Park and Ride. The Club also supports the proposed Oxford Greenways project recently consulted on by Oxfordshire County Council which would facilitate a southern green way to and from the stadium
- The stadium will provide 446 cycle parking spaces on site
- Taxi – with dedicated drop off points at both Oxford Parkway and Peartree Park and Rides.
High level crowd and transport management strategies have been included in the planning application for the stadium.
More detailed planning would be undertaken and need to be agreed by the Safety Advisory Group, with input from local community representatives through the Community Liaison Group. Any changes needed to the match day transport plans would also be agreed through this process.
How would the stadium be evacuated if there was an emergency?
The stadium site is sufficiently sized to accommodate the full capacity of the stadium in the event of an emergency. In extreme emergency cases, (e.g. a terrorist attack) there may be a need to extend to muster points further outside the site, but this would only be in the most extreme cases as instructed by the emergency services.
Will there be a controlled parking zone (CPZ) for Kidlington on match days and how would this work?
Yes – one of the conditions should the stadium be approved is for a match day CPZ to ensure that there is no stadium parking on public roads. This would be secured via a legal agreement to ensure that parking remains available for the Kidlington community as it does at present.
An initial plan has been developed, but this would be subject to local consultation from OCC Highways in Kidlington and with other stakeholders. This would take place prior to the new stadium being operational. The main elements of the scheme are as follows:
- It is expected to cover a radius of c.2km from the new stadium site across Kidlington, but this would be confirmed through the consultation process.
- The costs (implementation signage, wardens, residents permits, etc) would be funded through a legal agreement linked to the grant of planning permission for the stadium
- The CPZ would be in place permanently but will only need to be implemented on match days.
Will there be a footbridge over Oxford Road from Parkway to the new stadium for Club fans?
The Club submitted a ‘pre-application advice’ request to Cherwell District Council’s planning department. This sought feedback from Cherwell DC on the main planning issues for a footbridge over Oxford Road between the stadium site and Oxford Parkway.
The ‘pre-application advice’ said that the scale of bridge required to safely transport pedestrians on match days would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt. In light of this, ‘very special circumstances’ would be needed to justify the footbridge.
Unlike the stadium itself, there are no ‘very special circumstances’ that would justify the proposed bridge, especially as Oxfordshire County Council Highways have confirmed that the bridge would not be needed to make the new stadium sustainable transport strategy acceptable. As such a planning application for a bridge is not able to come forward.
Without a footbridge, what other measures will the Club consider to minimise disruption to my journey on match days?
The transport strategy for match days, which is endorsed by Oxfordshire County Council Highways, is intended to minimise the use of private cars, with the target of over 90% of fans travelling to the stadium by existing and new sustainable transport modes to this highly sustainable location. The dedicated stadium travel website will be a key tool in educating fans on the sustainable transport options from day one.
Following ongoing engagement with local representatives, further mitigations are also being considered by the Club in addition to the dedicated stadium transport strategy. These are under active consideration and could potentially include:
- Support towards subsidised transport on local bus and rail services (including at the local park and rides).
- Support towards improvements to Oxford Parkway station.
- Provision of a new e-bike scheme in Kidlington village – discussions are ongoing with a potential operator for this service.
- Potential scheme with Sainsbury’s to prevent fan parking in the Kidlington supermarket.
