First of all, a bit of context. The A40 project was dreamt up by the previous Tory administration of the County Council, to utilise potential government funds related to housing growth in Eynsham and to the development of Oxford North. The initial project was wildly ambitious, with dualling to Barnard Gate and bus lanes all the way into Wolvercote. Unfortunately, the funding wasn’t linked to inflation, and we have had galloping inflation in construction costs. It also came from two separate pots, so that the Park and Ride and Shores Green came from one government department, and everything else, including joining the Park and Ride to the A40 from another. We built the P&R to prevent it becoming unaffordable, and the cost of maintaining it has fallen to the contractor.
My predecessor, Charles Mathew, rightly opposed the scheme, as there would have been more effective ways to solve our A40 problems. I agreed with him.
We have been in discussions with Homes England for several years, to try to get the size of the fund increased. The government refused this request. So the scheme has had to be shrunk to fit the available pot. I am not prepared for Council Tax payers’ money to be used, and none has been.
Homes England has now committed to the funding, so we can go ahead with the next stage. There will be public consultation, starting in November, as part of the planning consent process.
Key improvements – apart of course from joining the P&R to the road – will be changes at key junctions to make traffic flow much better. The Eynsham roundabout and Cassington lights, which both cause severe congestion both on the A40 and on the joining roads, will be improved, with intelligent lights making sure that wait times are reduced. There will be a number of new pedestrian and cycle crossings, new bus stops, and an improved bike lane to Wolvercote.
It has taken a long time, and it doesn’t take away the need for a rail link, which we remain committed to. But there is progress.