Bicester Traffic Action Group co-chairwoman Rachel Mallows explores the potential impact of the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway on Bicester.

AS we have said in the past, we are just a humble collection of local people who feel that there are some issues not getting the attention they deserve from the relevant authorities.

Let’s face it there are quite a few issues that do need some attention including; the London Road level crossing, the illegal air quality, the ‘Urban Boulevard’ design and Bicester Village although fingers crossed the new ‘hamburger roundabout’ may improve things until Bicester Gateway opens. Watch this space.

All the topics we focus on are centred on Bicester and district.

In essence we campaign to ensure that as central and local government foist more development onto us, it comes with appropriate infrastructure to support it.

However in this column we would like to inform you of a project a little further afield which may or may not impact Bicester and that is the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway.

Somewhere in Whitehall a group of civil servants have been tasked by the Government to plan for more growth in the South East, and the arc from Oxford through Milton Keynes to Cambridge has been identified as the area.

So in this little arc which sweeps across our home they are planning to build 1,000,000 additional homes by 2050.

No, you didn’t misread that number and let us, for the moment, ignore the recent Campaign for Rural England (CPRE) report which says there are already enough homes in the UK, they are just in the wrong places.

To support this growth the country needs a road and they are calling it snappily enough ‘The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway’.

It will cost around £3bn and open sometime in the 2040s.

So what’s an expressway you ask? Well it is not quite a full motorway but it is better than a normal dual carriageway.

Doesn’t this sound good?

Well if you have ever tried to drive to Cambridge and seriously why would you want to when we live so close to Oxford, you will know how charmingly slow the current road can be so it will be a huge improvement.

So where is it going to be?

Well at the moment there are three serious proposals however once past Milton Keynes the route to Cambridge is already agreed.

Two routes run very close to Bicester and the third is nearer Thame.

So this is where everyone starts getting nervous.

Oxfordshire County Council do not want a route that follows the current A34 from Botley to J9 of the M40 as the road is already heavily congested, has frequent accidents and the route physically constrained for expansion making construction much more expensive.

The residents of Wendlebury and Stratton Audley need to be very concerned about both northerly options as they could be seriously impacted.

The southerly route from Didcot towards Thame, grazing Aylesbury before heading into Milton Keynes cuts through almost 100 per cent farmland some of which is green belt and nature reserves.

So what does this mean for Bicester?

We are a growing town, Bicester has already contributed more than 10,000 new homes to Government targets but have surprisingly missed out on the infrastructure to support this growth.

How would having an expressway fencing improve our congestion issues?

Would it alleviate air pollution problems by taking cars away from the centre of town?

Would it encourage even more development?

Can we have something other than warehousing please?

There are interesting times ahead and we and your councillors need to hear your opinions.

Any comments, please get in touch bicestertag@gmail.com