£18.8m in M40 roundabout improvements between Banbury and Bicester approved

Oxfordshire County Council has allocated £18.8 million of its Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal funding to improve the existing roundabouts at the Upper Heyford development site in North Oxfordshire. The project will be delivered by Highways England which is currently developing the designs.

Cllr Duncan Enright, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for transport and development strategy, said: “The transport improvements at Junction 10 of the M40 were identified as a key infrastructure project to support the increased housing on the Heyford Park development and we are delighted that progress is being made in partnership with Highways England in bringing it into fruition.”

Highways England is planning to complete the design by August 2022 and start construction by November 2022. It is proposed to enlarge the Baynards Green roundabout, while other associated works will increase the capacity of the Padbury roundabout.

David Steventon, Highways England scheme delivery operations manager, said: “Improving the junction on the A43 at Baynards Green, and the M40 roundabout at Padbury will increase capacity, reduce congestion, help reduce journey times and improve safety.

"It’s exciting to be in a position to start work on designing these improvements, and we are looking forward to working with Oxfordshire County Council on this project.”

The proposed project will:

- Improve the road infrastructure in the area to cope with the future traffic demand due to planned housing and employment growth.

- Boost economic growth and opportunities by providing additional highway network capacity.

- Improve road safety at junctions.

- Reduce journey times.

- Reduce impact on the environment and carbon footprint by tackling congestion around Junction 10.

The total cost of the project is expected to be in the region of £18.8m, with the majority coming from the Growth Deal. The housing developers will be repaying some of the costs, through legally bound developer contribution agreements.