Sitting in a traffic jam must be the biggest waste of time imaginable. By the time you've resorted to phoning a friend on the mobile, making your face up, and checking out your diary for the day, there's not much more you can do.

Traffic analysts say Oxford's roads are reaching breaking point. They have no capacity to take any more traffic thanks to the Oxford Transport Strategy, which aims to decrease rather than increase the number of cars on our roads.

This week the congestion on Oxford's major arterial routes reached its worst state for months.

Commuters have been forced to sit in long tailbacks often for up to an hour each morning on their way to work. Many are finding that no matter what time they leave in the morning they are still late for work.

People are even resorting to using the specially-designated Park and Ride lanes as rat runs in a bid to beat the queues.

Businessman Rupert Fogden, 29, from Headington, who travels around Oxfordshire during his working day, says: "I got caught up at the Heyford Hill roundabout and found it horrendous, absolutely choc-a-block.

"The traffic was just nose to tail all the way from there to the A34 junction at Hinksey Hill. It's ridiculous and such a waste of time.

"At one point my car was completely stationary for more than 20 minutes."

Congestion in the heart of Oxford can often be traced back to what is happening on the M40, which plays an important role in the traffic flow of the county.

A crash on the southbound carriageway of the M40 between junction 11, at Banbury, and junction 10, at Ardley, caused a five-mile tailback on Tuesday.

The crash barrier was severely damaged and emergency repairs were started later that day, resulting in lane closures causing further congestion. The repair work was due to be completed today (Friday).

Yesterday morning (Feb 8), a second accident involving three cars took place between the same two junctions. As police arrived on the scene drivers slowed down to see what was happening, further disrupting traffic flow.

The county council's assistant director for transport development, Eddie Luck, says: "Whatever happens on the M40 is critical to Oxfordshire.

"Whenever there are problems on the M40 they have a dramatic effect on traffic flow across the rest of the county.

"Oxford and Oxfordshire's road network is running pretty close to capacity. It is very finely balanced. Anything out of the ordinary, however slight, has a big knock-on effect."

Mr Luck adds that traffic volume is at its peak during the months of January and February, partly because fewer people take holidays at this time of year.

"The amount of traffic on the roads is particularly noticeable at this time of year.

"All the companies and institutions in the city are at full pace when you are out of the holiday period and so there is a maximum number of people wanting to come into the city at the same time," he explains.

And head of road and transport policy for the AA, Paul Watters, adds that the cold and wet weather means many people opt to take the car into work during the winter months instead of getting the bus, cycling or walking.

A programme of roadworks is currently being carried out all over Oxford, making it virtually impossible to drive across the city in less than 30 minutes. Work is under way at locations across the city including Osney Bridge, in Botley Road, Ferry Hinksey Road and Abingdon Road.

Mr Luck is encouraging people to use alternative methods of transport into the city, particularly Park and Ride services, in a bid to cut down the number of cars coming into the city via Botley, Banbury, Woodstock and Abingdon Roads.

He would like to see people living in neighbouring towns such as Abingdon relying on public transport rather than driving into Oxford themselves, although he admits the car provides a lifeline for people living in rural areas which are barely served by public transport.

The volume of traffic on the roads sharply increased in the aftermath of the Hatfield Rail crash last October.

When the true state of the country's tracks was revealed, the train service was cut back to the bare minimum.

Many commuters also refused to travel by train because they felt it was unsafe, and instead drove their cars.

Rail companies say they are hoping regular services will be resumed by Easter but it is unlikely that all former rail travellers will give up their cars and return to the trains.

TROUBLESPOTS ACROSS THE CITY

Frequently snarled-up roadways:

**The Botley roundabout where A34 meets the A420

**Headington roundabout, with tailbacks along A40 and Bayswater Road

**Donnington Bridge Road

**Pear Tree roundabout, where resurfacing to the Park and Ride is being carried out

**The ring road between Heyford Hill roundabout and Abingdon Road junction

**Kidlington's route along Oxford Road to Cutteslowe roundabout then along Banbury Road into the city centre.

First published: February 9, 2001