CONGESTION has increased by more than 40 per cent on three major Oxfordshire roads in the past year.

New figures from traffic analysis company Inrix showed there were reports of congestion on the A40 7,546 times in 2014, a 41.2 per cent rise on 2013.

Motorists on the A34 were hit by delays 3,608 times, up 31.4 per cent and there were hold ups on the M40, 962 times, up 52.5 per cent.

The average increase across the three roads was 41.7 per cent.

There were delays on all three roads yesterday morning.

One lane of the M40 southbound was closed between junction 10 and junction nine after a collision and there was congestion on the A40 eastbound between Marston and Headington roundabout.

There were hold-ups on the A34 after a car transporter broke down near the Milton interchange.

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Motorists stuck on the A40 and A34 were also likely to be delayed for longer as the average speed of traffic in congestion dropped on both roads.

Average speeds decreased from 15mph to 14.7mph on the A40 and 20.2mph to 18.8mph on the A34.

Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for transport David Nimmo Smith said the council was working to improve things but it was inevitable that doing so would cause delays in the short term.

He said: “I know we had six months of improvements and congestion at Hinksey Hill but it was an absolute pain before and it is much better now.

“We are doing what we can and we are trying to make sure the roads will work as well as possible.”

Post by Oxford Mail Interactive Graphics.

According to Inrix congestion is when the speed of traffic on a road drops below the average speed for that time of day.

The worst month for congestion on the M40 and A34 was October, with 157 incidents of congestion on the M40 and 463 on the A34.

There were 850 incidents on the A40 in July – the worst month on that road.

By October work had also started on the London Road in Headington.

The contraflow on the Kennington roundabout was put in place in July, which was the second month of the roadworks on the junction.

Northway coach driver Doug Robinson said congestion on the A40 was worse than ever.

He said: “I travel on the A40 every day two or three times and there is always a delay. Not a day goes by that you do not get stuck in traffic.

“It takes me 45 minutes to get from Kidlington to Northway.”

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said the delays were caused by Oxford’s popularity and by under-investment in roads.

He said: “Congestion is a combination of things. Partly it is the fact that we have a roads system which is very close to capacity.

“Part of the problem is that Oxford is such a great place in terms of employment and jobs and it is also a crossroads on north-south routes. Investment in these roads over the past 30 years has been criminally low.”

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