‘PAUSING’ work on a major new road between Oxford and Cambridge has led to calls for the government to shift focus to railway links.

Work on the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway will be paused indefinitely, according to the government’s Roads Investment Strategy 2020-25.

The £3.5 billion road plan would have linked Oxford and Cambridge via a corridor including Milton Keynes.

This document was published yesterday following the chancellor’s budget announcement in which he promised £27 billion over five years for ‘strategic’ roads across the UK.

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The government has said it will continue to find other ways to invest in the ‘right infrastructure’ for the Oxford to Cambridge Arc, a region where one million new homes could be built by 2050.

The report said: “We are now pausing further development of the scheme while we undertake further work on other potential road projects that could support the Government’s ambition for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.”

But others have called for the Department for Transport to pivot away from new roads and invest in a planned rail link between the two university cities.

Oxford Mail:

Several of the suggested routes for the Expressway around Oxford outlined in different colours. Picture: DfT.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran said the move was ‘a step in the right direction’.

She added: “A pause is not the same as scrapping the Expressway – this Government must be unequivocal that the Expressway is not happening and will never happen."

Yesterday, following the budget speech by chancellor Rishi Sunak, Ms Moran said the government should ‘commit to a fully electrified East-West Rail in the Expressway’s place.’

Ms Moran was one of a number of MPs who joined the No Expressway Group in handing in a petition of 15,000 signatures to 10 Downing Street against the new road on February 26.

No Expressway Group chair Olivia Field said: "A pause is not a cancellation.  It’s generally what you do before carrying on with something you still intend to do – but just not at this moment.  We will keep campaigning until the government scrap this unnecessary and destructive scheme. "

Helen Marshall, Oxfordshire Director of Campaign to Protect Rural England said communities had been ‘left in limbo’ by the pause.

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She added: “It also undermines good planning for the county as a whole, as we can’t see how the new Oxfordshire Plan 2050, the long-term strategic development plan for the county, can possibly be taken forward without knowing where we stand on the Expressway.’

Though the road is paused, plans to make safety improvements to the A34 between Newbury and Oxford will go ahead.

These are also mentioned in the roads strategy as part of a series of measures which are ‘under construction’.

Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth said he had 'consistently campaigned for more investment for the A34 which impacts on all Districts and constituencies across Oxfordshire.' 

He had previously supported the Expressway as he believed it was linked to the A34 improvements.

The county council sent a letter to the government in November saying it no longer supported the road.