Work on the A34 in Oxford has reached the halfway stage - and officials are confident it will be completed on time.

The closure of the northbound carriageway between the Botley and Peartree interchanges has brought misery to thousands of drivers for the past three weeks. Southbound traffic, which has still been using the road, was today switched to the completed northbound carriageway.

Workmen have two weeks to reconstruct the rest of the weak Seacourt Stream bridge and resurface the southbound carriageway - and expect to do so.

Project manager Angela Simmons assured motorists the £3.7m road improvements would be completed as planned on December 5. She said: "We intended to switch southbound traffic on to the opposite carriageway on Thursday night but we have had some very cold weather which has delayed the laying of Tarmac. We can catch up. I am confident we will finish on time.

"There is a bit of a learning curve. Problems we have faced rebuilding the bridge on the northbound carriageway have now been resolved and work will be quicker on the southbound side."

The A34 will continue to be closed to all northbound traffic until the roadworks are complete.

The closure has caused jams on many roads in the area.

County council chief engineer Richard Dix, whose call for the A34 to be closed to southbound traffic was turned down, said: "What is in place will have to stay until the job is complete. We are just looking forward to an end to all this as soon as possible."

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