Road Warriors: The Inside Story Of Oxford's LTN Wars
1 min read
Over the last couple of years, the row over Oxford’s traffic restrictions has grown in prominence from a local skirmish to become the target of global far-right conspiracy theories. Stuart McGurk travels to the dreaming spires to find a city at war with itself. Illustrations by Tracy Worrall
On a blustery evening in early March, around 200 people gathered in Wesley Memorial Church, central Oxford, with the aim of fostering a rebellion. They held signs. They chanted, “Take back democracy!” and “Free our streets!” The compere, Alan Miller of libertarian campaign group Together, quoted Immanuel Kant and compared their cause to both the American revolution (favourably – they were the Americans) and the Salem witch trials (unfavourably – they were the witches).
You almost forgot it was about traffic congestion. Or at least you would have, if the meeting had not been delayed 15 minutes due to traffic congestion.
“Welcome everyone around the world,” Miller began, referring to the livestream, which would have sounded grandiose, except Oxford’s traffic-calming measures had, improbably, become a truly global story.
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