MULTIPLE roadworks that cause city traffic gridlock are “worth it”, a minister has said.

The cities minister Greg Clark yesterday said investments in roads were necessary for long-term improvements to traffic flow.

He was yesterday due to officially sign a £108.6m investment deal for the county but this was postponed because of time constraints.

The Growth Deal was announced in July and pledges “significant investment in better transport links”. It will be signed in the city next month.

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Drivers have been hit by major jams in recent weeks as schemes in the city got under way, such as the contraflow system on the eastern by-pass at Kennington for a re-designed roundabout, and resurfacing of the A420 at Headington.

Mr Clark said: “The flip side of a lot being done simultaneously is that there is a lot of progress being made. I would rather for a period of temporary disruption, we are getting on with them. People are fed up of waiting in traffic jams. They want to get on with these.”

Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for environment David Nimmo Smith said some Government grants have to be spent in a set timeframe, meaning several road schemes have to happen at once.


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