TRANSPORT campaigners have backed new proposals to reduce congestion on the A40 but warned they are only “short-term” measures.

Oxfordshire County Council yesterday unveiled its £38m plans for a park and ride at Eynsham and a priority bus lane running into Oxford along the major route.

Senior councillors said it would increase the appeal of bus services by making timetables more reliable and cut down journey times.

The scheme was welcomed by bus operator Stagecoach Oxfordshire, with managing director Martin Sutton adding it would enable more regular buses.

He said: “These are very exciting proposals which will transform the experience of travelling to the city from the west with faster journey times and more on-time arrivals.

“We are looking forward to working with Oxfordshire County Council and other stakeholders to market the bus as an even more attractive choice for getting into Oxford in the future."

The county council has said it expects to be able to accommodate almost all of the new bus lane between Eynsham and Wolvercote on land it already owns.

The creation of the bus lane would see the removal of an eastbound cycle lane currently in place. It would end at the bridge that goes over the Oxford Canal near the Wolvercote Roundabout.

But the Witney Oxford Transport Group called for a solution that was not road-based, so journey times would be unaffected by traffic jams or crashes.

It has urged the council to reopen a disused railway station at Yarnton and link it by rail with Witney, a scheme the county council has estimated could cost between £244m and £289m.

Witney Oxford Transport group spokesman Maurizio Fantato said the council must look at longer-term ideas and plans.

“A solution based around the old trackbed, trams, tram-trains or trains and Yarnton Parkway provides a new option, not subject to perturbations on the A40 and other roads, as well as offering safe, sustainable and reliable transport alternatives, increasing the district’s economic prospects and providing resilience in the event of accidents or incidents.”

The county council is expected to launch a formal consultation into other long-term solutions it could look at during a meeting of the cabinet on July 21.

The local authority has stressed the newest package of measures proposed has been designed to be “compatible” with future schemes.

Other ideas set to be considered are a £187m guided busway between Witney, Cassington and Wolvercote, bus lanes in both directions on the A40between Witney and Wolvercote at an estimated cost of £172m, and dualling the road between Witney and Oxford.

The council said it had not yet completed cost estimates for dualling, an option proposed in the 1990s but dropped when the A40 was stripped of its trunk road status.