MP calls on minister to come and see A34 ring road traffic jams for himself (From The Oxford Times)
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MP calls on minister to come and see A34 ring road traffic jams for himself
7:20am Monday 21st January 2013 in News
By Andrew Ffrench, covering Didcot and Wallingford. Call me on 01865 425425
The A34
TRANSPORT Minister Stephen Hammond MP has pledged to visit Oxfordshire to consider how best to tackle congestion on the A34.
He made the promise on Thursday after Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood said her constituents regularly suffered from accidents and delays on the busy dual carriageway.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Ms Blackwood asked the minister what progress he had made reducing bottlenecks in the road network.
She said: “The A34 in my constituency is still plagued by congestion and accidents.
“That causes daily misery for commuters on a personal level, and it also has a debilitating effect on the local economy.
“If the workforce are stuck in gridlocked traffic, they are simply not being productive.
“Will the minister come to Oxford West and Abingdon to meet local community and business leaders to hear their concerns first hand?”
Mr Hammond accepted the invitation, saying: “I recognise that the A34 is an important, busy and strategic route.
“We are developing route-based strategies as a key mechanism to inform what is needed on such routes.
“The ability to work with the Local Enterprise Partnership and to look at the benefits to the local economy are key assessment criteria. I look forward to visiting the constituency.”
No date for the visit has been set.
In February 2011, a £4m project to improve the M40/A34 junction at Wendlebury near Bicester, by widening the southbound exits was completed. Work could start this year on a second phase, which is expected to include widening the A34 approach to the junction from two to four lanes.
The Government has allocated £6.5m to the phase two work and Oxfordshire County Council a further £2m to increase capacity at the junction and ease tailbacks on the motorway, the A34 and A41.
It was one of the first eight road schemes across the country to be included in the Government’s pinch point programme.
Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport, Rodney Rose, said: “I welcome the work that’s being done at junction nine of the M40 and hope the second phase of work starts this year.
“Any improvements to pinch points on the A34 will improve the economy in Oxfordshire, and I hope further work will be carried out by the Highways Agency to improve the junctions at the Milton and Chilton interchanges near Didcot.”
The A34 is managed by the Highways Agency.
Spokesman James Wright said the second phase of work at junction nine could start at the end of the year.
He added: “With Bicester Village shopping centre nearby, we don’t want any additional hold-ups around the Christmas period. “There ‘ no work planned at the Chilton and Milton interchanges, and it’s not in the pinch point programme at the moment.”
Comments(7)
Red Robbo 2
says...
8:29am Mon 21 Jan 13
And while we're at it perhaps Petrolhead Hammond would like to queue for the iniquitous toll bridge at Swinford - oh, hold on a minute, that, like the problem of the A40, is half in another MP's constituency...
Perhaps if Mr Cameron spent more time travelling between his constituency and his place of work then he might notice the problems his constituents have!
Kidlington Dave
says...
9:29am Mon 21 Jan 13
Andrew:Oxford
says...
1:23pm Mon 21 Jan 13
A new rail link between Carterton/Witney & Oxford would take 1000s of cars off of the A40 every day. It doesn't have to follow exactly the route of the former line.
Likewise, the A34M (as proposed over a decade ago) linking the A34 between Didcot & Abingdon and Junction 8 of the M40 would take 1000s of cars and lorries off the A34 through Oxford and ease congestion at the current Bicester Junction.
EMBOX2
says...
2:14pm Mon 21 Jan 13
Build more roads, you get more places for traffic to join. More houses, offices, etc, all good for the economy but now is the time to build more railways.
Give the unemployed training and get them to work building railways, stations, etc.
King Joke
says...
4:11pm Mon 21 Jan 13
Embox is spot on, we need to get more of the local traffic onto new lines, and more of the north-south traffic onto a heavily upgraded Reading-Birmingham line.
Grunden Skip
says...
6:19pm Tue 22 Jan 13
King Joke wrote:You are obviously a newbie then King, because before The M40 was extended the queues up the A34 (get an old map out) all the way through to woodstock stretched back to Headington, the same for Kidlington that was turned into a car park. The M40 has been Oxford's saviour, and all it needs is a by-pass for the two North Oxford roundabouts and the problem would be fully solved. And what would London be like without the M25. New roads ARE the answer. But NOT when they are built on the cheap with no foresight. If the M25 had been built as a 5/6 lane motorway, with fully motorway standard junctions there would be no congestion (barring accidents) and it would have cost a fraction of what they have spent since on widening and improving junctions. The same is correct for the Bicester and Brackley Junctions of the M40 No 9 & 10. That is without starting on the cancelled duelling of the A40 north of Wolvecote, and a clear run into London to the East.
When the M40 was built, and A34 upgraded, in 1991, they were supposed to solve all the County's traffic problems. That they have abjectly failed to do so should tell you all you need to know about building new roads - they don't work as they simply encourage more traffic and fill up within a few years.
Embox is spot on, we need to get more of the local traffic onto new lines, and more of the north-south traffic onto a heavily upgraded Reading-Birmingham line.
nickwilcock says...
7:50am Mon 21 Jan 13