Surreal pictures show a multi-million-pound park and ride which has no access road lying empty.

All major construction work at the 19-acre park and ride on the A40 eastbound in Eynsham was completed in January.

But there will be no vehicles parking in the 850 spaces at the £51million facility until the funding is secured for the infrastructure to connect it to the A40.

The permanent landscaping was completed earlier this month, and the county council is now providing ongoing maintenance of the site as part of the current contract.

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Work is being carried out each week, including grass cutting, topsoiling and seeding as needed. 

Some vegetation beyond the park and ride site boundaries has a lesser maintenance schedule and further work is expected around these areas when site access and bus lanes are constructed, the council said. 

Bus shelters, cycle storage and 850 car parking spaces at the park and ride (Image: Ed Nix)

The situation has arisen because of the part-cancellation of the A40 improvements programme due to cost pressures.

The planning application for the park and ride was made in April 2021 and funding from the Department of Transport (DfT) was approved in December that year.

The county council also secured funding for the access road and proposed roundabout along with other elements of the A40 improvements programme.

These included an extension of the dual carriageway from Witney to the park and ride and a four-mile bus lane in both directions from the park and ride to Duke's Cut bridge at Wolvercote roundabout.

But this project had to be redesigned because cost pressures, including inflation, meant it couldn’t be completed within the available budget.

The changes, which were submitted in September 2023, now need to be approved by funders Homes England and the Department for Transport before work can start.

Oxfordshire County Council said it was unable to share a delivery timeline until the conclusion of these discussions.

Meanwhile construction of the park and ride started in December 2022 and was completed on time and in budget in January.

The county council website says it is expected to be running by 2027. 

 

Landscaping at the site is being maintained weekly by the council (Image: Ed Nix)

 

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About 32,000 vehicles use the A40 between Witney and Oxford every day.

Oxfordshire County Council estimates the park and ride has the capacity to cut up to a third of the peak traffic travelling in each direction.

However, it is most likely to benefit residents of the 1,000 homes planned for West Eynsham and 2,200 new homes at the proposed Salt Cross Garden Village.

During consultations both Eynsham parish council and Witney Town Council said it would have been more useful if it had been sited at the Shores Green junction at Witney.