MUTLI-MILLION pound plans to cut traffic on the A40 have been dismissed by campaigners as fears grow about thousands of homes planned in West Oxfordshire.

Critics of proposals for an eastbound bus lane between Eynsham and Oxford said it would still be affected by 'pinch points'.

The bus lane would stretch from a new park and ride just west of Cuckoo Lane to the Duke's Cut canal bridge, with Oxfordshire County Council estimating it will cut bus journey times by four minutes.

But with nearly 16,000 homes due to be built by 2031 in West Oxfordshire, usage of the road between Witney and Oxford is expected to increase dramatically.

A five-week consultation has been launched on the £38m package of measures, but resident and lobbying groups remain concerned it will do little to reduce daily congestion.

Hugh Jaeger, chairman of Bus Users Oxford, called for the £6m park and ride site to be delayed.

This would provide extra cash for bridge-widening works so the bus lane could extend to Wolvercote, he said.

Mr Jaeger added: "The success of this scheme will depend on how complete the bus lane is.

"If you stop at Duke's Cut, you will still have that pinch point.

"I would put solving that problem ahead of having a new park and ride at Eynsham, because that will enable services to be more reliable."

His concerns were echoed by the Eynsham Society, which yesterday warned the plans for the A40 would fail to address future demand expected due to new housing developments.

Under a revised version of West Oxfordshire District Council's Local Plan, still in draft form, more than 3,000 extra homes would be built at Eynsham over the next 15 years.

The society warned the park and ride plans would 'in no way provide a viable alternative to the car for these commuters'.

Commenting on proposals for a 'garden village' north of Eynsham, it wrote: "The county council’s bus lane plan does not provide an uninterrupted bus ride into Oxford, because the bridge at Duke’s Cut is too narrow to accommodate the bus lanes, so the buses will have to pull out into the congested roadway.

"It is hard to see how a bus gate will assist this when traffic is stationary.

"Against this background of wholly inadequate existing capacity, it is abundantly clear the A40 works envisaged will under no circumstances handle the additional traffic numbers".

A county council spokesman said: "The biggest impact to journey time reliability is variations in queues lengths.

"So public transport users have predictable journey arrival times, the design for the A40 bus lane seeks to provide interventions that enable bus passengers to minimise their time in queues.

"This reliability is critical to operators who need to commence their service on time."

The consultation closes on Monday. To comment, visit: http://bit.ly/2h1uXSx