FEARS have been raised that major plans to dual up parts of the major link road between Witney and Oxford will in fact worsen the problem of congestion.

The county council’s proposals on the A40 involve creating a park and ride in Eynsham, with longer term plans to add extra lanes to the key route between Witney and Eynsham.

However, the chairman of Bus Users Oxford Hugh Jaeger has said research over the past two decades suggests road building and expansion only increases traffic and congestion, and that investment needs to be made in public transport.

He said: "Traffic expands to fill whatever space you offer it. If people see a nice big road going somewhere they will use it more often, and so you're back where you were before in terms of congestion.

"It's responding to a problem by making it bigger – and that's what road building tends to be."

His point of view appears to be backed up by new research from the Campaign Protection of Rural England, which found that three quarters of recent road building schemes have had no economic benefit.

Oxfordshire County Council's proposals would see a new park and ride built just east of Cuckoo Lane in Eynsham.

The eastbound bus lane would stretch from there to the Duke’s Cut canal bridge, with the council saying it will give buses more reliable journey times.

A public consultation on the scheme took place last year and engineers want to begin construction by autumn 2018.

It is seen as a first step, with longer-term plans also in development to eventually dual the A40 carriageway between Witney and Eynsham.

But Mr Jaeger said that the only real way to reduce the level of congestion on the road would be to install bus lanes right along the A40 between Witney and Oxford, an idea which was considered by the county council.

He continued: "Having bus lanes right the way along the road from Witney to Wolvercote in both directions would be the cheapest way of achieving quick improvements to congestion on the A40."

“Study after study concludes new or enlarged roads increase traffic, and thus congestion, either there or somewhere else. And by increasing poisonous nitrous oxides and sedentary car-dependent living, road building harms public health."

Mr Jaeger said that the ultimate goal would be reinstating the railway between Witney and Oxford, extending it to bring in Carterton, an idea he said would compliment the bus lanes.

He also believes that projections on the cost of a rail link by the county council were 'wildly exaggerated', saying: “Scotland recently reopened the 35-mile Borders Railway for £350 million.

The county council’s claim that reopening just seven miles of railway from Yarnton to Witney would cost £285 million is thus a wild exaggeration."

County council spokesman Paul Smith said: “We have consulted widely on more than one occasion about future solutions for the A40, and are committed to providing an eastbound bus lane between a new park and ride at Eynsham and Oxford.

“The A40 dual carriageway strategy we have proposed to the west of Eynsham is a practical and deliverable cost effective way forward that will make a real difference to road users.

Speaking on the issue of a rail link, he continued: “The A40 strategy does not physically preclude an Oxford to Witney railway from being delivered by the relevant bodies, should an economically viable proposal come forward in the future.

“The county council has sought to prepare fair and accurate costs for all options to best evaluate the options. The quoted cost of the rail re-opening was based on the average of a number of recent rail construction projects, including the Borders Railway."