Work to connect park and ride to road gets start date

Work on a long-delayed £70m scheme to link a new park-and-ride site with a key route is set to begin in mid-June.

The 850-space facility on the A40 at Eynsham, Oxfordshire was completed in 2024 but has remained closed because it has no road access.

Oxfordshire County Council is set to sign a deal with builders Balfour Beatty on Monday to build the a four-and-a-half mile stretch of the A40, as well as new bus lanes, cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings between Eynsham and Wolvercote.

A report from the authority said the park and ride was expected to open in 2027.

Development on the site began in 2022 but the scheme was halted for two years because of cost issues.

The site is currently unused, but a planning application to connect it to the A40 was submitted in July 2025.

The authority said the park and ride was completed on time and to budget because of a separate ring-fenced grant, though "cost pressures caused by high inflation" temporarily halted the rest of the A40 improvements scheme.

Experts have confirmed to the BBC that the decision to build the park and ride when the funding became available had saved millions of pounds.

The expected council approval will also mark the completion of the wider A40 project, aimed at improving transport connections, promoting sustainable travel such as cycling, and reducing emissions.

It will also create new jobs and support the requirements of major local housing developments in west Oxfordshire, such as the planned 2,200 homes in Salt Cross garden village between Witney and Oxford.

The entire project, which is not due to be complete until 2028, also includes a new junction with traffic lights at the park and ride and an upgrade to the Eynsham Roundabout.

Dan Levy, cabinet member for finance, said the unused park and ride was "embarrassing" for the council but it had been "the most cost-effective and efficient way to do things".

"The scheme we were left with by the previous administration was grossly over-specced and wasn't properly financed," he said.

"It's taken a lot of work to make sure that the scheme that will get approved next week will be one that fits the finance envelope and meets the environment agencies demands for that stretch of road.

"But it will finally happen."