There is speculation that the Oxford-Cambridge expressway is back on the table, after a hiatus on work behind the proposal in March.
The release of a new prospectus last week by Arc Leadership Group has fired this speculation. The prospectus, released by an organisation composed of local councils and businesses and chaired by Barry Wood, leader of North Oxfordshire District Council, called for economic stimulus through new projects in the counties between Cambridge and Oxford. Though the prospectus speaks about many forms of stimuli, “road and rail infrastructure” and “east-west connectivity” are referenced.
According to the BBC, Arc Leadership Group has denied that it intends to construct an expressway.
During the past few years, an Oxford-Cambridge expressway has been mooted on several occasions. The last time was in March when the National Infrastructure Commission stressed the need for the project to “be built as quickly as possible to unlock land for new homes.” However, work was paused, and the Department for Transport announced that they were looking at other projects to connect Oxford and Cambridge.
Speaking to the BBC, Wood emphasised that “improvements to other parts of connectivity” were necessary, seeing that communities between the two cities “may well need bypasses around them.”
However, the Oxfordshire chapter of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has swiftly condemned the idea of an expressway. Speaking to Cherwell, CPRE Oxfordshire Communications Manager Julia Benning argued that a new road would cut through green-belt land, and would be the more expensive option. She highlighted the “need to reduce emissions” and her organisation’s support of the “more climate friendly” option of improved rail links. She stated that residents had not been consulted about the new proposals whilst research by CPRE Oxfordshire has indicated that 75% of the county’s population “believes the Green Belt should not be developed.”
Highways England said that they were “pausing further development” of the expressway project whilst working on “other potential road projects” to support economic stimulus in communities between Oxford and Cambridge. With the government announcing housing reforms in August which could give an impetus to green-belt developments, it is clear that even if the Oxford-Cambridge expressway has been shelved for the moment, the debate between Westminster and local communities will continue.
Barry Wood was contacted for comment
Image credit: Rept0n1x / Wikimedia Commons
