Henley's two biggest car parks stop at three hours, while Wallingford, Thame and Didcot all sell ten for £6.30. Plus what is being resurfaced and the Didcot road build.
Two authorities decide how you get around Henley-on-Thames and neither of them tells you about the other. Oxfordshire County Council owns the roads, the roadworks and the buses. South Oxfordshire District Council owns the car parks. If you are trying to work out why a three-hour visit to Henley costs £3.50 and a ten-hour visit is not on offer at all, that is the reason.
The single most useful link on this page is the county’s live map, which shows every road closure, utility dig and diversion in the district as it is registered: one.network for Oxfordshire. Everything below is the context the map does not give you.
What is being resurfaced
Oxfordshire’s planned road maintenance programme lists the resurfacing sites with dates. These are the South Oxfordshire entries in the June to August 2026 run.
| Road | Place | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Park Corner | Nettlebed | 29 June to 3 July |
| St Georges Road | Wallingford | 29 June to 17 July |
| Eastfield Lane | Whitchurch | 6 to 24 July |
| Church Lane | Shiplake | 28 to 29 July |
| Reading Road | Henley-on-Thames | 4 August |
| Gillotts Lane | Harpsden | 5 August |
| A40 | Milton Common | 10 August |
The council’s own caveat is worth repeating: “timings and locations may change to suit weather condition”. A dry week pulls dates forward, a wet one pushes them back, and a resurfacing crew that finishes early moves on. Check the live map before you rely on any single date here.
The road build that will shape the next few years
The largest highway project in the district is not in Henley at all. Oxfordshire County Council is delivering four linked schemes around Didcot: the A4130 widening east of Milton Interchange, the Didcot Science Bridge over the A4130, the Great Western main line and Milton Road, the Didcot to Culham river crossing, and the Clifton Hampden bypass. Between them they add 19km of walking and cycling paths and 18 new bus stops, funded by Homes England grant, Enterprise Oxfordshire investment, developer contributions under section 106 and the council’s own capital budget.
On 3 August 2026 the county council named GRAHAM as the contractor for the river crossing: 3.6km of single carriageway from the A4130 at Collett roundabout to the A415 at Culham, with bridges over the Appleford railway sidings and over the Thames, and about two and a half years of construction ahead of it. Enabling works started earlier in 2026 and early construction is under way on the Clifton Hampden bypass too.
For anyone driving between the Henley side of the district and the A34, that is several years of live construction across the routes you would use, and the finished crossing is the first new Thames road bridge in this stretch for a very long time.
Parking: the three-hour problem
Henley is the odd one out among the district’s towns, and it is not close.
Kings Road (317 spaces) and Greys Road (133 spaces) are Henley’s two big car parks and both stop at three hours: one hour free with a ticket, £2.30 for two, £3.50 for three. Between them that is 450 spaces with no all-day option. The town’s only ten-hour council space is Southfields, which has 54 spaces at £5.30 for five hours and £6.30 for ten, with a monthly permit at £68, or £34 on the discounted rate.
Wallingford’s Cattlemarket and Thames Street, Thame’s Cattlemarket and Didcot’s Edinburgh Drive all sell the ten-hour ticket at £6.30. Didcot also runs an annual permit at £819, or £409 for a low-emission vehicle. In all of them the first hour is free but you still need to display a ticket, and every car park takes cash, card or the pay by phone app with a location code posted on the machine.
One change to watch: the councils consulted on new Off-Street Parking Orders for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse car parks between 9 April and 8 May 2026. Tariffs on this page are the ones published now; check the car parks pages before assuming they have survived.
Buses
The £2 single fare cap returns on 1 January 2027, the county council confirmed on 27 July 2026. Nine Oxfordshire operators took part in the original scheme from January 2023. The council has said it cannot cut MyBus fares before the cap starts, and will review that pricing when it does. Until January, single fares are whatever the operator charges.
What this means in practice
If you are shopping in Henley, three hours is your ceiling in the main car parks, and £3.50 buys all of it. Nobody is going to sell you a fourth hour at Kings Road.
If you commute by car and train, Henley’s arithmetic is poor: 54 all-day spaces in the town, against a station with no direct London service. Didcot Parkway and Haddenham and Thame Parkway are built for this and Henley is not.
If you are driving anywhere near Didcot or Culham for the next two and a half years, assume the route is a building site and check the live map first.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see current roadworks in Henley and South Oxfordshire?
On Oxfordshire County Council’s live map at one.network/custom/oxfordshire, which shows registered closures, utility works and diversions as they happen. Planned resurfacing with dates is listed separately on the council’s planned road maintenance page.
How long can you park in Henley town centre?
Three hours in the two main council car parks. Kings Road and Greys Road both charge one hour free with a ticket, £2.30 for two hours and £3.50 for three, and sell nothing longer. Southfields is the only council car park in Henley with a ten-hour ticket, at £6.30, and it has 54 spaces.
How much is all-day parking in Wallingford, Thame or Didcot?
£6.30 for ten hours at Wallingford Cattlemarket and Thames Street, Thame Cattlemarket and Didcot Edinburgh Drive. A monthly permit is £68, or £34 at the discounted rate; Didcot also sells an annual permit at £819, or £409 for a low-emission vehicle.
What is being built at Didcot?
Four county council schemes: the A4130 widening, the Didcot Science Bridge, the Didcot to Culham river crossing and the Clifton Hampden bypass. GRAHAM was appointed in August 2026 to build the 3.6km river crossing, which includes bridges over the Appleford railway sidings and the Thames and will take about two and a half years.
When does the £2 bus fare cap come back?
1 January 2027, confirmed by Oxfordshire County Council in July 2026. Until then operators charge their own single fares.
Who do I report a pothole to?
Oxfordshire County Council, not the district council. The county is the highway authority for every road in South Oxfordshire except the trunk network.
Sources
- Oxfordshire County Council live roadworks map (one.network) for current closures and diversions.
- Oxfordshire County Council planned road maintenance for the resurfacing programme and dates, including the council’s own caveat about weather.
- Oxfordshire County Council major current roadworks and Didcot and area improvements for the four Didcot schemes, the walking and cycling mileage and the funding.
- GRAHAM to build Didcot to Culham river crossing, Oxfordshire County Council, 3 August 2026 for the contractor, the 3.6km length, the bridges and the construction period.
- Oxfordshire welcomes return of £2 single bus fare cap, 27 July 2026 for the January 2027 start.
- South Oxfordshire District Council car park pages for every tariff, permit price and space count quoted: Henley-on-Thames, Wallingford, Thame and Didcot, plus the car parks index for the Off-Street Parking Order review.
Roadworks dates move. Tariffs are reviewed. Check the linked council pages before you set off. Where the trains go is on Henley trains to London; what is being built and where is on Henley planning.
Have your say
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