'Victory' - reaction as Oxford to Cambridge Expressway road is cancelled

The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, a new major road which would run between the two university cities via Milton Keynes, was part of a series of plans to upgrade infrastructure in the region.

The Government has said it has cancelled the project on cost-benefit grounds, but the announcement comes after years of environmental concerns and a series campaigns against the road.

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Since 2018, plans for the Expressway have stirred people in large swathes of the countryside to the east of Oxford to rise in up protest, as their areas were all part of a 'corridor' where a potential new road may be bulldozed through fields.

Several routes have been proposed for the Expressway around Oxford. Picture: DfT.

Now, campaigners who took up the No Expressway banner have welcomed news the road has been scrapped.

Helen Marshall, the director of the Campaign to Protect Rural England in Oxfordshire, said: "This is fantastic news, but this road always was a white elephant project and I think post-Covid it is the only sensible decision to make."

Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, described the announcement as 'a major win for everyone in our community' and 'for our environment'.

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The MP has campaigned against the road since she was first elected in 2017.

Since 2019, she has gathered the signatures of 1,500 Oxfordshire residents calling for the Expressway to be scrapped.

And Ms Moran also presented another region-wide petition calling for the project to be scrapped to Downing Street in early 2020.

Ms Moran also called on the Secretary of State for Transport to invest in greener modes of travel.

She said: “What we need to see now from Grant Shapps is real investment in sustainable transport infrastructure that goes beyond existing commitments to address the climate emergency.

"That must include fully electrifying East-West Rail and funding other green projects to help the people of Oxfordshire get out of their cars altogether."

The A34

Anneliese Dodds, the Labour MP for Oxford East, also welcomed the news, and emphasised the need for electric-powered trains on the new East-West Rail link.

Ms Dodds said; “I welcome the long-due cancellation of the expressway.

“It is now crucial that the Government commits to the electrification of the East-West railway and hard targets for genuinely affordable housing on the arc."

But Chris Church of Oxford Friends of the Earth, warned there was still the threat of 'Expressway by stealth', where smaller road projects are joined up to create a new major highway.

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When he yesterday announced the Expressway was cancelled, Grant Shapps said it would not provide value for money for the taxpayer and emphasised the Government was committed to other transport links, like the recently announced £760m investment in East-West Rail.

Some have criticised this plan because trains on the new line between Oxford and Cambridge will run on diesel instead of electricity.