AN END to misery on the A40 may be within reach as the county takes a big step closer to major infrastructure investment.

Oxfordshire’s bid to the Housing Infrastructure Fund for £135m to fund upgrades to the A40 ahead of the proposed 2,200-home garden village near Eynsham has been selected by the Government for further assessment.

The move, which would go towards developing a rapid transit network to increase capacity on the heavily-congested road, has been described by Witney MP Robert Courts as the best news about the A40 in years.

He said: “This is enormously positive and encouraging and offers a real possibility of significant improvements to the A40.

“Ever since I became MP this has been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, issue in the area.

“I think it’s fair to say this is the most positive news we’ve had about the A40 in a very long time. It’s a big step forward.”

The funding, if successful, would develop Oxfordshire County Council’s long term A40 strategy, which involves dualling the road between Oxford and Witney and adding separate bus lanes.

The application is part of a package of investment to deliver the transport infrastructure necessary to allow the development of new garden towns and villages across the county.

Another bid, if successful, would see £171m worth of improvements to support more than 22,000 homes in Didcot, Culham, Harwell and Berinsfield.

Central government will make a final decision in the autumn on whether the bids for Didcot and West Oxfordshire are ultimately successful, but council leaders are optimistic.

James Mills, leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said it was a positive step towards the ‘urgent need’ to upgrade the A40.

He said: “West Oxfordshire’s proposed garden village near Eynsham would be a major contribution towards meeting our current housing demands as it would provide much-needed homes in a high quality and sustainable environment.

“It is boosting our case for improvements to transport links and in particular the urgent need to upgrade the A40.

“I am delighted that we are now closer to gaining Government investment through the Housing Infrastructure Fund.”

Mr Courts said tackling congestion on the A40 has to be a multi-faceted approach.

He said: “No one scheme is going to solve the A40 congestion issue. The park and ride will take some cars off the road and so will getting more people to use the railway.

The A40 will also benefit from the £215m Oxfordshire Growth Deal, which was approved last week.

Work to explore a congestion-free westbound bus lane on the A40 to the proposed Eynsham Park and Ride will receive a total of £16.5m over the five years.