LAST year will be remembered by many commuters for five months of misery on Oxford’s roads.

And now, as travel firms and traders count the cost of the disruptions, we can look forward to yet more delays and congestion caused by roadworks.

But as county council transport supremo David Nimmo Smith says: “It is short-term pain for long-term gain.”

This is the crux of the matter, because many of Oxford’s roads are badly in need of improvement and updating.

Of course we have sympathy for the Oxford Bus Company, Cowley Road traders, and commuters forced to crawl at a snail’s pace around the city.

But if the work means that it is easier to get in and out of the city, then hopefully it will have been worth it.

The most important thing to do until then is support those businesses most affected.

As Oxford Bus Users’ chairman Hugh Jaeger says, unreliable bus services could soon lose passengers to other forms of transport. Passengers should recognise it is not the travel companies’ fault and either grin and bear it, or return to the buses once the work is over.

Cafe owner Clinton Pugh is right when he says traders in East Oxford have already had a tough time.

But there will never be a good time to bring parts of the city to a standstill.

Last month two major sets of roadworks – at the Kennington roundabout and the Worcester Street junction – coincided and caused traffic chaos.

Now we have The Plain roundabout, phase two of Frideswide Square and the next stage of the London Road, Headington, works – all set to overlap from February.

County council leaders will continue to face questions on whether these projects really needed to happen at the same time.