Your questions about Access to Witney answered

Access to Witney

The Access to Witney project seeks to improve access between Witney and the A40 as part of the Oxfordshire County Council Witney Transport Strategy. 

The principal aims of the project are to:

• give residents and drivers more choices, particularly those wanting to access the A40, and enable local and through traffic to access the A40 without needing to travel through the town centre or use the A40/Ducklington Lane junction. 
• reduce congestion and improve air quality in central Witney, including on Bridge Street and in the Air Quality Management Area;
• provide new walking and cycling paths and crossings facilities on the B4022 and alongside the A40 that will provide improved and safer connections between South Leigh, High Cogges and Witney and to the shared path along the A40 to Oxford.
• support the delivery of planned housing growth in Witney as set out the West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2031

When we will build this scheme

Enabling works for the scheme start on 10 February 2025. Construction is scheduled to start in mid-2025 and be completed by mid-2026.

How to contact the project team

If you have any questions, complaints or feedback, please send an email to A40witneyaccess@oxfordshire.gov.uk

You can also write to the team:

Access to Witney Project Team
Transport and Property Infrastructure Delivery 
Oxfordshire County Council 
County Hall
New Road
Oxford
OX1 1ND

Disruption during construction

As with any major construction project that modifies an existing highway, a degree of disruption is inevitable. We will endeavour to mitigate disruption to the greatest extent possible

The project's traffic management plan aims to mitigate disruption through phased implementation and will introduce speed limit reductions for the safety of our road network users and workforce. Temporary traffic management (TTM) will be installed on 9 February 2025, with advanced warning signs and temporary diversion signs deployed from 26 January 2025 onwards. 

 Further road closures will be required during construction. Please visit this regularly and sign up for the newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook and Nextdoor to receive regular updates on the scheme and any future road closures. 

Key mitigation measures include:

• Phased construction with controlled access points to minimise congestion.
• Single-lane running on the A40 with Varioguard barriers to segregate work areas from live traffic.
• Overnight closures for resurfacing works on the A40 and B4022 to reduce peak-hour disruption.
• Two-way temporary traffic lights for signalisation and highway improvement works on the B4022.
• Designated site access points to regulate construction vehicle movements and avoid rat-running through South Leigh.

Road closure

The A40 will be fully closed for one night between Ducklington and the Shores Green Junction from 8pm on 9 February 2025 to 6am on 10 February 2025.  This closure is necessary to install barriers safely, and signs before construction begins. The closure and diversion route will be clearly indicated by traffic signs.

A40 Planned Lane Closures

Lane 1 Closed (both directions) within the A40 scheme extents from February 2025 until the end of construction. Other lanes will remain open to traffic. The lane closure will be clearly indicated by traffic and advance warning signs.

Speed limit change

Starting 10 February 2025 and until the end of construction, the speed limit on the A40 within the scheme extents will be temporarily reduced to 50mph speed limit, and the speed limit on the B4022 within the Scheme extents will also be temporarily reduced to 30mph speed limit.

How much the Access to Witney scheme will cost

The estimated total value of the scheme is £25 million.

How we are funding the scheme

The scheme is being funded via a combination of the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal and S106 funding contributions from developers. 

Aligning the works with the A40 Smart Corridor

The Access to Witney scheme is not part of the West Oxfordshire A40 Eynsham Park and Ride to Wolvercote (HIF2) schemes, and it has separate funding.

However, the scheme is close to the A40 improvements programme. We are aligning the works to reduce the potential impact on local communities.

The options we considered

We considered 33 options with the potential to tackle the identified issues with movement, congestion, and air quality in Witney. These options comprised interventions across the whole of the Access to Witney study area and included:

• upgraded junctions;
• new road links;
• public transport improvements;
• active travel interventions; and
• parking management. 

We assessed each option for its performance against the Access to Witney objectives and their:

• feasibility;
• deliverability;
• affordability; and
• acceptability. 

You can see the discounted options in the public consultation information.

How we arrived at the preferred option

We shortlisted five options for further review and assessment. We then identified the west-facing slip roads as the preferred option. After further analysis and design refinement, we produced three layouts for public engagement.

The signalised junctions with the B4022 slip road is the preferred layout. The layout:

• requires the least amount of land
• minimised the impact on local utilities 
• is considered the safest layout for pedestrians and cyclists.

Improvements for cycling and walking

The scheme will provide new walking and cycling facilities on the B4022 and alongside the A40 that will provide improved connections between South Leigh, High Cogges and Witney and also to the shared path along the A40 to Oxford.

Private land use for construction

We have secured the land necessary for the construction through a combination of private negotiations and a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).  

Planning permission

We submitted a planning application for the A40 Access to Witney scheme in April 2022.  On 5 June 2023, Oxfordshire County Council’s Planning and Regulation Committee resolved to grant the scheme planning permission

How the A40 and B4022 will be affected by construction works

There will be some disruption to traffic on the B4022 and to a lesser extent along the A40 during the construction of the scheme. We will communicate the temporary traffic management plans in advance and work closely with relevant stakeholders, including local parish and town councils, throughout the construction period.

Traffic through local villages

The traffic modelling we have completed does not predict that the scheme will have an adverse impact on traffic flow through local villages.

However, we recognise and have sympathy with the concerns that have been raised with regards to existing and potential future ‘rat-running’ traffic through local villages, particularly when there is heavy congestion on the A40.  Oxfordshire County Council is committed to monitoring the impacts of the scheme on traffic flows across the local road network.  The council is also committed to working with the local parish councils and their communities to discuss their concerns and to consider potential complementary traffic calming measures

Environmental impact

As part of the design development, we have carried out a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The EIA assessed the scheme's environmental implications, including impacts on:

• ecology
• noise
• air quality
• landscape
• bio-diversity
• climate change. 

The findings of the EIA were reported in the Environmental Statement (ES) submitted as part of the planning application for the scheme in April 2022.

Where we are now? 

Enabling works for the Access to Witney (Shores Green) project start in February 2025. We expect construction to start in early 2025 and end in spring 2026.