BY anyone’s standards, Old Abingdon Road is a fairly minor thoroughfare.

But only now that it has been closed has its value to motorists become apparent.

The road’s closure is causing delays of up to half-an-hour to thousands of drivers on the neighbouring ring road and even the A34 – already one of the most congested routes in the country.

It is ironic that the road has been shut for work designed to ease traffic flow so that a railway bridge can be raised to allow it to accommodate freight trucks, thus taking cargo from the South Coast ports off the roads.

Unfortunately for commuters and shoppers, the work is set to continue over the busy Christmas period and right up to March.

Motorists have been quick to relay their frustration at the delays – though others seem stoical.

Traffic jams and hold-ups are, of course, nothing new to Oxfordshire folk – and many of us now take unexpected snarl-ups for granted.

Let’s just hope that the resulting improvements to rail and road traffic are worth those ever-increasing journey times.