FOR some motorists the fact that more than a third of journeys along the A34 are delayed will be surprising only on the basis that even more are not affected.

The road is struggling to cope with its dual role as a national trunk route and a key link for Oxfordshire commuters, who find themselves stuck in queues with depressing regularity.

Aside from the frustrations for drivers, the congestion problems are also an impediment to the county’s economic prosperity.

Companies are deterred from setting up in Oxfordshire because they fear congested transport links will have an adverse effect on their business. And those that are here have to deal with late deliveries and delayed employees.

Talk of widening the road to three lanes in both directions will come as a relief to some.

And while £800m sounds costly, the sum could be paid for if the local authorities can convince the Highways Agency to give away a slice of its £15bn road funding scheme.

But the proposal is not without its difficulties, not least in Botley and North Hinksey, where widening would mean home and businesses would have to be removed to make way for extra lanes.

Some may be happy to move but others will be reluctant to up sticks.

And the alternative, of a new road between Lodge Hill, north of Abingdon, and junction 8 of the M40, would cut across Green Belt land and affect the environment of a number of villages south of Oxford to boot.

The risk is that there will be years of legal wrangling over either option, while nothing happens on the ground to tackle the congestion that is already an ever-present problem.