The overrunning of gas works on the A34 near Oxford has been slammed as a “flabbergasting failure of organisation” as motorists were hit with major delays at the start of the week.

The work by SGN on the A34 shut the southbound carriageway over the weekend between the Peartree Interchange and the Hinksey Hill interchange.

One lane had been due to reopen at 5am on Monday (November 6) with the second shut for the rest of the week for continued gas works.

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However, the road remained closed throughout Monday before one lane was reopened at around 4.45pm. 

SGN apologised for the delays saying it was caused after a gas pipe was located closer to lane two than initially anticipated.

The gas company said that it would not have been safe to reopen the lane without further remedial work.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council explained the authority had been notified in advance of the SGN works on the A34 which is managed by National Highways.

He added that the council does not have the power to prevent such work happening and the authority was made aware of the works overrunning early on Monday morning. 

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran said: “Road users across Oxfordshire faced yet more unacceptable disruption as SGN’s works overran.

“Yet again road users have been subjected to a flabbergasting failure of organisation.

Oxford Mail: MP Layla Moran MP Layla Moran “I absolutely share the anger and frustration that yet again it appears lessons have not been learnt following the chaos of the Wolvercote Bridge repair and A34 closures. When agencies fail to stick to their own timetables, it is local people who suffer.

“My team have been in contact with SGN about the disruption and called for appropriate mitigations to be put in place.

“The levels of disruption we have seen are unacceptable and residents in and around Oxford deserve better.”

Oxford’s highways chief, councillor Andrew Gant said:  “It is very frustrating that SGN has missed the agreed reopening time of 5am for the A34 southbound.

"This means that the Monday morning rush hour was heavily impacted.

"Although the A34 is not the county council’s road we do manage the rest of the network around Oxford other than the M40.

"This failure to stick to a plan that would have seen the road cleared in time for the busy commute will have knock-on effects for everyone.

"It is something we will be strongly taking up with both SGN and National Highways on behalf of the travelling public.”

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Motorists reported being stuck in traffic for hours after the road closure was unexpectedly still in place.

Kidlington resident Arnold Yin said: “The traffic was really bad. It was backlogged for miles and miles. I couldn’t see the end of it.

“If you are going to a deadline you should stick to it but if it is health and safety. I guess they have to extend it.”

Adrian Beare, National Highways operations manager for the region, said: “We are aware of the delays and the inconvenience this overrunning work has caused for people travelling through Oxfordshire this morning and on behalf of our partners at SGN we want to apologise.

“We work hard to keep our strategic road network open and with traffic moving as freely as possible.

“Following this morning’s issue we have worked alongside SGN and Oxfordshire County Council to put in place a number of emergency steps to get one southbound lane open as soon as possible today and amended the working schedule this week to get both lanes fully functioning again by this Saturday morning.”