Funding for Tramway Road in Banbury from Oxfordshire housing deal

The Oxfordshire Growth Board published details of the first round of infrastructure projects to receive funding in year one of the five-year Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal on Tuesday.

The deal will deliver £215m to fund infrastructure and affordable housing to underpin the building of up to 100,000 new homes across Oxfordshire between 2011 and 2031.

Tramway Road is getting £657,000 to turn it into a link road for buses and taxis and provide replacement access into the railway station’s west car park.

This will improve bus journeys into the town centre for existing residents and those in new developments to the south of the town, and provide some relief to the Bridge Street junction and a quality access road into the Canalside redevelopment area, according to the board.

Funding in year one will enable design work to be progressed on the bus and taxi link, access into the car park, improved footpaths and a signalised junction onto Swan Close Road.

The Banbury scheme is one of ten projects to share around £12m of funding over the next year.

In addition, the Growth Board announced a further £20m of funding to be used across the county to support a range of other infrastructure projects.

Growth Board chairman Cllr Bob Price said: “This is a significant moment for Oxfordshire.

“Just last month all the districts, the city council and the county council united to seal a deal with government, and now we are delighted to announce this first year of funding to start delivering the infrastructure residents have been calling for as we continue to prosper and grow as a county.”

In total, around £30m will be spent on infrastructure in the first year (2018/19), with similar amounts in each of the following four years.

The money will be used for detailed design work and to determine funding required from developers and other sources, or to kick start initiatives and pay for works.

The new infrastructure will help support the delivery of new homes to address the county’s severe housing shortage and expected economic growth, the Growth Board said.