Ambitious plans to relieve traffic on three busy Oxfordshire roads have been unveiled.

The Highways Agency claims its proposals will cut dangerous queuing on the M40 and improve traffic flow on the A34 and A41.

Its plans involve adding extra lanes to slip roads of the A34, A41 and M40 at junction nine, and installing traffic lights at the junction of the motorway and northbound A34.

Each extra lane will be about 250 metres long and the road will filter back into two lanes.

This means people travelling from Oxford on the A34 will have four lanes -- two for traffic joining the northbound M40, and two for drivers heading to Bicester or southbound on the M40. Two lay-bys on the north and southbound A34 and another on the southbound A41 are likely to be closed for safety reasons, as well as to make way for the scheme.

The Highways Agency estimates the project will cost between £3.5m and £5.5m and it will use land it already owns.

Drivers were once again caught up in delays on Thursday night following a crash on the M40 which caused tailbacks on the A34 and other county roads.

At an exhibition of the plans at Weston-on-the-Green Village Hall, Highways Agency regional manager for London and the South East, Paul Harwood, said people's views would be taken into account before the scheme was finalised. He said: "The existing problem is we have got long queues on three of the four approaches on junction nine, and as a result people are rat-running through local villages which is a concern for residents.

"We have also got safety concerns about the traffic queuing on the M40, so the scheme has been designed to overcome those problems.

"The proposal in many ways is very simple -- basically we are making better use of the existing roundabout, and have the ability to have three lanes around the roundabout. "We feel we can clear the queues. There has been a mixed reaction. We are aware some local people don't think we can solve the problem but we are confident we can."

A computer generated simulation of the Highway's vision of the road until 2020 was also on display.

Mr Harwood said work was due to start work next spring, and was expected to take between six and nine months.

In order to stop people rat-running through Weston-on-the-Green, Mr Harwood said the agency would aim to keep both lanes on the road open during peak hours.

Resident Sally-Ann Thomas, of New Barn Farm, Northampton Road, did not believe the Highway's proposals addressed the problem. She said: "Adding extra lanes doesn't give the roads extra capacity. I don't think they are dealing with the problem which is rush hour congestion."

John Mair, chairman of the B430 Action Group, which was set up to stop lorries rat-running through the village, said: "Good glossy PR. Cost a fortune with all those men in suits, but no content to it all.

"Their scheme is a sticking plaster. It will not work. It's time for them to go back to the drawing board.

"Meanwhile, the rat-runners will have a field day on the B430 and through the village of Weston."