Oxfordshire sets out £245.5m transport investment programme

Oxfordshire County Council has approved a local transport delivery plan setting out how £245.5m of government funding is proposed to be invested in the county's transport network to 2029-30.

image: Oxfordshire County Council - A40 Eynsham Park and Ride

The plan, which will now be submitted to the Department for Transport, covers highway maintenance, bus improvements, active travel, electric vehicle infrastructure and road safety schemes. The finalised plan is expected to be published by the government later this year and will be reviewed annually.

The largest area of investment will include road maintenance, covering repairs and preventative treatments across the county's highway network. The council is also allocating funding to bus services, ticketing schemes, vehicle improvements and passenger information.

Active travel funding will support walking and cycling schemes and feasibility studies, while investment in EV infrastructure will support delivery of Oxfordshire's electric vehicle charging strategy. The plan also includes schemes associated with the council's Vision Zero programme, which aims to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on the county's roads by 2050.

Other projects identified include a pilot programme for heavy goods vehicle interventions aimed at supporting more sustainable freight movements and the creation of a mobility hub in Benson.

The investment programme sits alongside larger individual transport projects already being developed in the county. These include the £126m A40 Eynsham Park and Ride to Wolvercote project, where enabling works are under way ahead of main construction, which is expected to begin in spring 2027. Balfour Beatty is the contractor for the A40 scheme.

The A40 project will provide new bus lanes, active travel improvements, junction upgrades and access to the existing Eynsham park and ride facility. The park and ride is currently expected to open in early summer 2028, with the wider project scheduled for completion by summer 2029.

The county council said the £245.5m allocation includes an increase in funding for active travel, while also highlighting a shortfall in highway maintenance funding which it says will be supplemented by council resources.