An extra £1.3 million has been requested by Oxfordshire County Council for the completion of a controversial roundabout improvement project.

The council has requested the extra money to complete the Banbury Road roundabout project. 

The road works project is set to convert the Banbury Road roundabout into a signalised junction.

The new junction plan is designed to safely increase vehicle capacity, using traffic signals, while also providing better pavements and cycle paths and safer crossings.

The council said the "increase in budget" is due to a combination of factors, including "unforeseen changes to the traffic management requirements" and "necessary post-design changes to construction".

It said the cost pressure will be met by reallocating Growth Deal funding. 

The cabinet is set to approve an increase of £1.3m for the Banbury Road roundabout to be funded from the Housing and Growth Deal at the next cabinet meeting taking place on Tuesday, September 17. 

A screenshot of the cabinet meeting agendaA screenshot of the cabinet meeting agenda (Image: Oxfordshire County Council)

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Ariel view of the roundabout (Image: Bicester Bike Users' Group)Conservative district and town councillor for Bicester North and Caversfield, Nick Mawer, slammed the county council's handling of the project.

"Taxpayers in Bicester will understandably be furious about this," he said. 

"Oxfordshire County Council ignored the results of the consultation about the design of the junction, and chose the most expensive option.

"Even before now, the budget was double what was passported over by Cherwell District Council to the county.

Councillor Nick Mawer (Image: Cherwell District Council.) "There is no way that this junction should have been uprated until after the completion of the Lords Lane, Howes Lane relief road.

"From my point of view, county administration's handling of this whole saga has been inept, and this cost over-run is just another example."

The project, which has been met with controversy from residents and officials in the past, is currently in the third phase out of five. 

Phase three is expected to finish at the end of October, after which Banbury Road will reopen to all road users.

The plans for the roundabout (Image: Oxfordshire County Council)Conservative district, town and county councillor, Donna Ford, said she is "shocked and appalled" that an extra £1.3m has been requested in next weeks cabinet meeting.

"This project was designed against the consultation results from the public. It has increased and increased in cost," she said.

"I think the residents will be frustrated and angry.

"I have requested details from the officer regarding which projects will be set to lose out due to this project overspend."

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Councillor Donna Ford (Image: Bicester Town Council)

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said the Howes Lane relief road is a separate scheme with separate funding arrangement.

A county council spokesperson said: “As the highways authority we have a responsibility to design and deliver construction projects in a safe and responsible manner.

“There was a combination of factors that have impacted on the overall costs of the scheme. This includes changes to the drainage and additional utility diversions required. Working with local partners we also decided to improve the planned traffic management by adding manually operating traffic lights during key phases of work, to keep traffic flowing.

“The additional funding now required is being drawn from existing central government funding.”