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Safety changes for the Justins Avenue and Oakleigh Road junctions on Stratford’s Birmingham Road have been under discussion for most of this year, but nothing has been built yet. Warwickshire County Council says the side roads are safe and that it is monitoring them. Local groups say drivers turning right still have to cross two lanes of traffic heading into town.
The issue is back in the news after what the Stratford Herald reports was another two-car crash at the Justins Avenue junction at about 1.30pm on Saturday 17 October, at least the third in recent weeks. The Herald also reports a new petition for safety changes, led by county councillor Lorraine Grocott (Liberal Democrat, Stratford North). We haven’t found the petition online yet and will link it when we do.
What changed on Birmingham Road
The county council’s A3400 Birmingham Road scheme was meant to ease congestion between the A46 and the town centre. Its third and final phase was finished in November 2025. It gave the road two lanes towards the town centre between St Peter’s Way and Hamlet Way, so a driver turning right out of Justins Avenue or Oakleigh Road now has to cross both of them.
In its answers to residents’ questions while the work was being planned, the council said the design had passed a road safety audit, that Keep Clear markings would let drivers out when traffic queues, and that drivers who struggled to turn right could turn left and come back round the Tesco roundabout.
What the council has said since
- February 2026: the council’s progress update said residents had reported speeding, accidents and near misses on the two-lane stretch. It commissioned video and traffic surveys of Justins Avenue, and said it would look at solutions “should they be deemed necessary”.
- June 2026: Stratford’s MP, Manuela Perteghella, named Oakleigh Road and Justins Avenue as dangerous junctions in a Commons debate on road safety, saying residents had reported near misses and crashes.
- June and July 2026: minutes of the town’s Transport and Traffic Group record that the county’s highways director had said the council considered the side roads safe but was looking at what could change. The options being considered were bringing back right-turn islands, traffic lights, letting vehicles trigger the pedestrian crossing lights so they could pull out of Justins Avenue, and speed indicator signs. The July minutes said remedial work would follow surveys of Justins Avenue, The Avenue and Oakleigh Road and a road safety audit, with a residents’ meeting in August, and that the council hoped to carry out the work in September.
- October 2026: the group’s minutes of 8 October say the problems at Justins Avenue have still not been resolved, and record that the county council says there is no issue but is monitoring the junction.
The Herald quotes a county council spokesperson as saying the council has done traffic surveys and safety audits in the area and will keep monitoring the wider scheme.
What happens next
The Transport and Traffic Group, whose members include local groups and town, district and county councillors, next meets on Thursday 12 November. To raise a road safety concern, contact your county councillor or Warwickshire County Council’s highways team. For live traffic, roadworks and buses on the Birmingham Road, see Stratford Live and our Stratford road closures page.
Alex Harrington
Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.
