The Issue: Is making the A40 dual carriageway the best way to ease the traffic jams?

Paul Mills, from Witney, works in Eynsham and regularly uses the A40

Here we are in 2015, 40 years since any serious transport infrastructure improvements were made to the A40, still just talking about it.

The A40 is a major issue, one that the local authorities see as a headache that they would prefer to not have to deal with.

The county council leader Ian Hudspeth kindly met me in December and admitted that due to the scale of the problem and costs involved, it has often been put to the bottom of the pile and ignored.

Well, if you choose to ignore them they’re likely to get worse and will certainly not go away. These proposals are not new.

Mr Hudspeth’s words spoke volumes when he said: “We want this to be a serious conversation about what can be done along the A40.”

That is what they want, to continue the conversation, portray an image that they’re actively looking for solutions, but not make decisions.

I believe that we will still be discussing this in 10 years’ time with no further improvements.

This has to change now because the route is at breaking point and people are fed up and want to see some serious action.

The only realistic option to solve this problem is to build a dual carriageway.

The reinstallation of the train line, is a fantasy. The county council knows this but it is a good story piece and it just puts off having to take action.

With all the costs and objections, will it happen in the next 20 years?

Of course not.

The bus lane option is liked by many and loved by few.

Public transport and bus lanes in particular have their place, mainly in intercity scenarios where large volumes of people are trying to get from A to B and back again.

They would not help on a route used by so many trying to reach many destinations.

If the funding will only stretch as far as building one extra lane then it would be better spent by making one that has an alternating flow.

In the mornings you could have two lanes heading eastbound, and in the afternoon it could switch providing two lanes heading west.

These consultations are only a way of putting off the job for even longer.

NO

Nigel Rose of Witney and Oxford Transport Group

Solving the costly and damaging congestion between Witney and Oxford is one of the most important public transport decisions for a generation.

The obvious answer is to widen the road – turn the A40 into a dual or three-lane carriageway.

But history tells us increased road capacity simply leads to an increase in traffic.

Before long, the congestion will return.

Oxford will become even more gridlocked and polluted as cars and lorries pour off the A40 at rush hour.

The real answer needs to be green, sustainable and economically viable.

The Government has promised £40m, but on one condition. It has to be a ‘public transport’ solution.

That appears to rule out a road-widening scheme.

The Witney Oxford Transport Group was set up two years ago to look at alternatives.

We are committed to a sustainable form of transport, preferably using the disused Oxford to Witney railway line.

We know this is seemingly expensive, but where railway lines have been reinstated they have proved a highly effective and much more economical long-term solution. Pressure on the congested A40 corridor is set to increase.

Carterton, next to the giant RAF Brize Norton airbase, is expanding.

Thousands of new homes are to be built in West Oxfordshire in the near future.

Many of these new residents will be drawn to Oxford for their work.

The new transport system must be capable of delivering commuters to Britain’s fastest growing city quickly and efficiently and be inherently resilient. As an interim solution we have offered the council a proposal to create a temporary busway to a new park-and-ride car park with easy access to the Cotswold Line at Yarnton.

You can read all about this on our website – witneyoxfordtransport.wordpress.com

A decision is needed soon, but it has to be the right decision, one that ensures the provision of a modern, sustainable and proven public transport solution.