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Oxford High Street Guide

High Street, Oxford, OX1 1EF

Access Guide

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Introduction

  • Oxford City Centre is in central southern England.
    The A423 southern bypass is approximately 1.5 miles away to the south of the Thames Street/St Aldate’s junction.
    This guide covers the main shopping area of Oxford City Centre on St Aldate’s and High Street.
    This guide runs between the junction of Thames Street and St Aldate’s to the south and Magdalen Bridge to the west via the High Street.
    The route is approximately 0.9 miles (1448m) and takes approximately 19-21minutes to walk.
    The shopping area is on both sides of the road and there are several slight to steep slopes uphill and downhill at varying points throughout.
    Pathway surfaces are a mixture concrete paving slabs, block paving and tarmac.
    The pathways have some uneven sections, which include some raised manhole covers.
    The road surfaces are tarmac, with dropped kerbs and tactile paving at most crossing points.
    There are opportunities to sit and rest.

Getting Here

  • By Car:
  • The A423 Eastern Bypass Road is approximately 1.6 miles away via the A4114 Abingdon Road.
  • This road will give you links to the A40 and A34.
  • The street guide runs from the south, northward, then into the High Street westward.
  • At the south end the road becomes Thames Road (A420) and Abingdon Road (A4144).
  • At the west end it becomes Magdalen Bridge (A420).
  • Parking:
  • There is very limited on street Blue Badge and standard parking available on the High Street, St Aldate’s and surrounding roads.
  • There are some public car parks available a short distance from both St Aldate’s and High Street.
  • These car parks over 250m away.
  • The main car park would be Westgate Oxford Shopping Centre.
  • It is advised to use the park and ride services for easier access.
  • By Bus:
  • There are bus stops on both sides of the road in St Aldate’s and High Street.
  • Direct services are available to the park and ride car parks, Wood Farm, Wantage, Abingdon, Central London and many other local destinations.
  • For more information on Stagecoach services please click here
  • For more information on Oxford Bus services please click here
  • By Train:
  • Oxford Station is located on Park End and is approximately 1.1 miles from the High Street section of the route.
  • There is step-free access to all platforms at this station via lift.
  • There are direct train services available to London Marylebone, London Paddington, Bournemouth, Dicot, Southampton Central, Banbury, Manchester Piccadilly, Newcastle and many more.
  • For more information on Great Western Railway services please click here
  • For more information on Crosscountry services please click here
  • For more information on Chiltern Railway services please click here.

Parking

  • On Street Parking
  • There are very limited on street Blue Badge and standard parking bays on the High Street, St Aldate’s and some surrounding side roads.
  • There is no charge for these parking bays.
  • Parking is limited to 60 minutes and no return within 2 hours for non-Blue Badge holders depending on the parking area.
  • Blue Badge holders may park in any of the bays but must follow the signed instructions on time limits.
  • When approaching from The Plain (east side), there are bus gates (covered by CCTV) and you cannot enter the High Street to get to the Blue Badge parking near some of the restaurants. Instead, you need to enter the High Street from the west side.
  • Public Car Parks
  • Westgate Oxford Shopping Centre car park is near to St Aldate’s and is chargeable for all to use.
    .

Junction - Thames Street (A420), Abingdon Road (A4144) and St Aldate’s (A420)

  • There are two pedestrian crossing points at this junction to cross Thames Street and St Aldate’s Street.
  • These crossings have audible and visual signals and rotating cones underneath the controls for visually impaired users.
  • Both crossings have dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides.
  • The surface of the roads is tarmac.
  • The surface of the pathways is block paving.
  • There is level access at these crossings.

Thames Street to Cornmarket Street / High Street Via St Aldate’s

  • The surface of the pathways on both sides of the road in this section are tarmac and block paving.
  • The pathways on both sides are wide.
  • There is an easy uphill slope running from Thames Street along St Aldate’s.
  • This slope varies throughout this section and levels out in parts.
  • The pathway is mainly block paving throughout.
  • There are some uneven areas on the pathways throughout this section.
  • There are some obstructions along the pavement on both sides such as signs, cash points, railings, cycle racks, bus stops, bins and signboards.
  • There are several bus stops along the section on both sides of the road.
  • Many of these bus stops are sheltered with bench style seating inside.
  • The bus stops are outside Christ Church Cathedral, Thames Valley Police Station and Sainsbury's Local along this section.
  • There are several side roads and access roads along the section to cross, with most of these having dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides.
  • There is a crossing point on St Aldate’s outside the Crown Court.
  • This crossing point has dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides and an island in the middle.
  • The surface of the road is tarmac at this crossing.
  • There is a zebra crossing on St Aldate’s next to Tesco Express.
  • This crossing has dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides.
  • The surface of the road is tarmac at this crossing.
  • The length of this section of the route is approximately 0.3miles (483m) and takes approximately 6-8 minutes to walk.

Junction - Cornmarket Street, Queen Street, High Street and St Aldate’s

  • There are several pedestrian crossing points at this junction to cross Cornmarket Street, Queen Street, High Street and St Aldate’s.
  • The pedestrian crossing to cross St Aldate’s has audible and visual signals and rotating cones underneath the controls for visually impaired users.
  • All of the crossings have dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides.
  • The surface of the roads is tarmac.
  • The surface of the pathways is block paving.
  • There is level access at these crossings.

St Aldate’s to Longwall Street via High Street

  • The surface of the pathways on both sides of the road in this section are tarmac and block paving.
  • The pathways on both sides are wide.
  • The pathway has various slopes throughout this section, with some uphill and some downhill and with varying gradients from easy to steep.
  • The pathway is mainly block paving throughout.
  • There are some uneven areas on the pathways throughout this section.
  • There are some obstructions along the pavement on both sides such as signs, cash points, railings, cycle racks, bus stops, bins and signboards.
  • There are several bus stops along the section on both sides of the road.
  • Many of these bus stops are sheltered with bench style seating inside.
  • The bus stops are outside Brasenose College and opposite the Oxford University Press Shop.
  • There are several side roads and access roads along the section to cross, with most of these having dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides.
  • There are pedestrian crossing points on High Street, next to Black Sheep Galleries and the Covered Market and also next to the Longwall Street Junction.
  • At this crossing point there is audible and visual signals and rotating cones underneath the controls for visually impaired users.
  • The crossings have dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides.
  • The surface of the road is tarmac at this crossing.
  • The length of this section of the route is approximately 0.4 miles (644m) and takes approximately 8-10minutes to walk.

Junction - High Street and Longwall Street

  • There are several pedestrian crossing points at this junction to cross High Street and Longwall Street.
  • These crossing have audible and visual signals and rotating cones underneath the controls for visually impaired users.
  • All of the crossings have dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides.
  • The surface of the roads is tarmac.
  • The surface of the pathways is block paving.
  • There is level access at these crossings.

Longwall Street to Magdalen Bridge via High Street

  • The surface of the pathways on both sides of the road in this section are tarmac and block paving.
  • The pathways on both sides are wide.
  • The pathways have various slopes throughout this section, with some uphill and some downhill, which have varying gradients from slight to steep.
  • The pathway is mainly block paving throughout.
  • There are some uneven areas on the pathways throughout this section.
  • There are some obstructions along the pavement on both sides such as signs, cash points, railings, cycle racks, bus stops, bins and signboards.
  • There are some side roads and access roads along the section to cross, with most of these having dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides.
  • There are some crossings to cross the High Street throughout.
  • These crossings have dropped kerbs and tactile paving on both sides with a small island in the middle.
  • The surface of the road is tarmac at these crossings.
  • The length of this section of the route is approximately 0.1 miles (161m) and takes approximately 3-4 minutes to walk.

Access Guides Available For (Oxford High Street Guide)