The focus of this programme will be measures to reduce transport problems on roads outside of Oxford and the county’s other towns.

The highest priority problems we’ve identified for this programme relate to problems getting to Oxford. The capacity of several of the junctions on Oxford’s Ring Road is insufficient to cater for the flows of traffic that now pass through them every day. This is a major cause of congestion and delay across central Oxfordshire. Much of what we’re proposing within the Public Transport and Oxford programmes should relieve the pressure on these junctions, for example by encouraging more people to make trips by public transport. However, we also need to look at improvements to increase capacity at critical locations.

Increasing traffic levels have resulted in reduced air quality in recent years. Where this has led to an Air Quality Management Area being declared we will work jointly with District Councils to agree an Action Plan to tackle the problem. Action Plans may be single schemes or packages of schemes tailored to the specific local problems, and could involve changes to the road network to reduce traffic levels in polluted areas.

Looking further ahead, we’ve identified a number of larger improvements that will be needed to keep the network working over the next 20 years. This could involve building sections of new road or improving existing roads, while other routes might be re-classified to reflect the role they now play in the county’s transport system.