THE aims of building an Oxford-Cambridge expressway are unclear and the project should be opposed by councillors, the city council will be told.

That call will come from the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, Andrew Gant.

The Government plans to build the new road between the country’s two most celebrated university cities by 2030.

But Mr Gant will say there is a ‘tension’ between what previous city council leaders have said about the expressway and a perceived ‘lack of clarity’ from the Government.

WHERE WILL IT GO? Expressway route options explained 

The leader of the city council’s opposition will say current city council leader Susan Brown and former leader Bob Price ‘welcomed the perceived benefits’ of the expressway in the Oxford2050 document. The council said that document ‘provides a sort of blueprint for the future’.

But last year, the Oxfordshire Growth Board – which Ms Brown sits on in her position as city council leader – both ‘welcomed’ the principle of the project but said it was frustrated by a lack of available detail over it.

Councils across Oxfordshire have complained uncertainty over the expressway means they are unable to properly plan where new homes should go.

The Government has said it wants to boost growth by building one million homes between Oxford and Cambridge by 2050 – but has not specified how many will be built in Oxfordshire.

Most of the growth will be outside the county. For example, Milton Keynes is expected to double in size by the middle of this century.

Tonight, Mr Gant will ask the council to agree a number of details.

He will say it is unclear what the ‘expressway’ would be. He will add ‘insufficient’ work has been completed on whether building railways would provide better value for money.

The Department for Transport has already said the expressway would follow the path of the East-West Rail project, which is set to finally link Oxford and Cambridge by rail again.

The Varsity Line, which had previously, closed in the 1960s.

Mr Gant will also say it is unclear what the point of the expressway would be –whether it would be a strategic route principally for freight vehicles from the Midlands and the South; whether it would ‘make commuting before Oxford/Milton Keynes/Cambridge easier and quicker’; whether it would help towards the building of one million new homes; or whether it would help relieve traffic on the A34.

Earlier this month transport minister Jesse Norman said it had not ruled out any routes, including building across the Otmoor nature reserve, between Bicester and Oxford.

That was despite his department saying it had ruled out using it last year.

A public consultation is set to open for residents later this year.