SUGGESTIONS of a new major road between Oxford and Cambridge are bad enough, but using it to try to carve new boundaries for Oxford through Green Belt and agricultural land is appalling (Oxford Mail, February 18).

I have warned in these pages before that any road option is inferior to rail improvements because of impacts on land use.

The Expressway proposal cannot alter one major problem. Whatever the land-grabbing route across country, the vehicles using it will still be entering Oxford.

Substantial increases in traffic on all routes into Oxford have been noted over many years. The County Council claims to want to reduce traffic but has given its support to the Expressway proposal which will add to traffic in Oxfordshire.

This directly contradicts their own Local Transport Plan. The summary of their plan includes reducing the number of journeys made by car and reducing emissions.

New roads do not do this. In fact, they actually increase the number of journeys taken and the distances which people travel. This is referred to as ‘induced traffic’ and has been a good reason for investment in walking, cycling, rail and bus rather than road capacity for decades.

Neither Oxfordshire nor any other council can claim to be fighting air pollution, resisting traffic congestion or reducing greenhouse gas emissions if it supports the Cambridge-Oxford Expressway.

STEVE DAWE
Country Press Officer, Oxfordshire Green Party