Oxfordshire County Council to begin work along A40 at Wolvercote

Cyclists, pedestrians, bus passengers and other road users are all set to benefit from work to upgrade a length of the A40 in north west Oxford.

Oxfordshire County Council will be doing some preparation work along the A40 on a short section of the road just to the west of the Wolvercote roundabout. The work is part of plans to improve the A40 with upgraded cycle and bus infrastructure.

The preparation work will include some vegetation clearance and a small temporary compound will be created alongside the A40 in early December. The compound will be used while the main work to improve the A40 takes place from February 2021 until late 2021.

The main work will be starting in February 2021 and will include widening of the road to offer improved cycle/footpaths as well as bus lanes. The dates for the enabling work will be from 3rd December with the main works starting in February with completion planned for December 2021.

The footpaths/cycle paths will be slightly diverted but will remain open as normal throughout most of the work. There may be some management required for things like a temporary footpath and the vegetation clearance, but access will be maintained. For the main work, the new, temporary path will be used.

The completed work will include improvements to the Wolvercote and Cutteslowe roundabouts as well as provision of enhanced bus services along the A40 and A44 corridors including bus priority, new bus stops, improved waiting facilities and opportunities for interchange.

Both lanes of the A40 will be kept open during the preparation work but there may be traffic flow reduction with lane widths. No night work is planned at this stage, but Saturday morning work is expected to take place.

The work will also mean that there are very slight diversions of the cycle paths alongside the A40 in early 2021, but access to cyclists and pedestrians will remain and will not be restricted.

Oxfordshire County Council apologises for any inconvenience that may be caused during the period. The work has been designed to keep the area open to business as usual as far as possible.

The work is supported by the government’s Local Growth Fund which has seen the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) – working alongside Oxfordshire County Council – secure £8.4 million of funding for the project.

For more information about this release contact the Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council communications team on 01865 323870 or email press.office@oxfordshire.gov.uk